


Brothers

by BaronVonChop



Category: Pacific Rim (Movies)
Genre: Basketball, Body Horror (Nightmare), Gen, Growing Up, Illegal Fighting, Kaidanovsky Cameo, Organized Crime, Sibling Bonding, bodily injury, broken arm
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-26
Updated: 2019-02-26
Packaged: 2019-11-05 21:31:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 31,024
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17926727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BaronVonChop/pseuds/BaronVonChop
Summary: The journey of Hu, Cheung, and Jin Wei from orphans living on the streets of Hong Kong to Jaeger pilots.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> As a triplet myself, I wanted to try my own take on the Wei brothers.
> 
> Thanks as always to my amazing beta reader who helped me with this story! Any remaining mistakes are my own.

When Hu and his brothers are too tired to look for food or beg for money, they huddle together in back alleys, neglected doorways, or construction sites, three small boys sharing their memories so that they do not forget. Despite their ragged clothes and hungry bellies, Hu likes these moments because he knows his brothers are close, and it reminds him that his memories are real, and not just something he once dreamed.

Cheung remembers when their parents would take them to the market. With three brothers and only two parents to keep an eye on them, it seemed like one of them was always darting off or wandering away or falling behind. There was so much to see at the market, not just the colorful stalls but the constantly moving crowds of people, talking and laughing and shopping and eating. Jin and Hu dimly recall stern talkings-to upon returning home, but Cheung always paints a scene of their parents playfully chasing them through vibrant markets of endless fascination and wonder.

Jin remembers the times strangers would come to their small apartment to argue with their parents. Sometimes these strangers yelled, and sometimes they broke things or hit their father. The strangers would also threaten their mother or the brothers, but mostly they just hit their father. The boys did not really understand what "debt" meant, but they knew it made people mad. They all remember, whether they want to or not, the last time the men came. After that it was just the three of them, on their own.

Hu remembers their mother telling them stories. At first, he does not remember the stories themselves so much as how it felt to have her tell them. He tries to describe the feelings of comfort and contentment as they listened to their mother's soft voice in the warm darkness of their shared bedroom. As the brothers get older, Jin and Cheung grow impatient with Hu's vague descriptions of pleasant storytimes, and they start to ask Hu more about the stories their mother told. Hu wracks his brain to remember bits and pieces, eager to please his brothers and recreate the feeling of home. Over time, it starts to feel like he does remember elements of their mother's stories. He weaves these characters, places, and events into stories, filling in the gaps as best he can. His brothers declare that they remember these stories as soon as they hear them, and they encourage Hu to tell more. The more stories Hu tells, the easier it becomes, but he worries that his stories are growing further and further from their mother's.

* * *

For the first few weeks on their own, the brothers have only each other. They were chased from their home with nothing but the clothes on their backs. They do not know of any family they could go to, and they are too afraid to return to their old home. They see other children living on the street and follow their example, picking through garbage cans and dumpsters for food. The other children are wary of the brothers and avoid them, instinctively feeling that the three brothers' loyalty will always be to each other first, which would jeopardize the delicate social hierarchies of their packs.

Jin's attitude is, "Screw those guys." Cheung insists, "We don't need them, as long as we have each other!" Hu is not so sure, but he stays quiet, because he does not want to offend his brothers.

The brothers try to stand up to the other groups of kids sometimes, refusing to leave a dry sleeping spot or to hand over a warm blanket. Inevitably, this leads to a fight, and the brothers always eventually lose. No matter how hard they fight, they can't compete with overwhelming numbers. Once they surrender, the other kids stop the beating and let them leave, maybe after adding an extra punch or kick to get the point across. Jin is always the last to give up, and as a result, he suffers the worst beatings. His brothers tend his cuts and scrapes with the cleanest cloths they can find, while telling him there is no shame in surrender. Jin does not respond, his eyes focused on something far away.

Hu hates fighting when they always lose, but his brothers don't seem to see it that way. They always think there is a chance they can win, even though they never do.

They travel through Hong Kong looking for food and shelter. When they can't scrounge enough food from the trash, they find themselves drawn to markets. These are not the cheerful markets Cheung is fond of describing. Instead, the stalls sell things like slimy fish, drab vegetables, and garish clothing.

After getting caught and having his head smacked a few times, Jin becomes adept at snatching food from a stall and running. Cheung picks up how to hang around a stall looking forlorn until someone takes pity on him and gives him food. Hu is good at neither, so he serves as a scout and lookout, finding opportunities for his brothers.

From time to time, they hear about giant monsters rising from the sea to attack cities. They do not pay much attention. The brothers have already lost everything but each other.

* * *

Funnily enough, it is not Cheung who first meets the woman they will come to know as Auntie Sue. If Cheung had tried to charm her, perhaps she would not have spared the brothers a second glance, but when she catches Jin stealing a loaf from her baked goods stand, she takes a closer look.

"Haven't you stolen from me before?" she demands, holding his forearms together in a single brawny hand.

"No!" Jin shouts back, all defiance as he wriggles in her iron grasp.

The baker grabs his chin with her other hand and studies his face. "Yeah, just last week. I remember you!"

Jin stops struggling and scrunches up his face, still defiant. "You're crazy! I've never stolen from anyone as fat as you!"

The baker's mouth drops open, and Jin braces himself for a blow. Instead, she laughs, loud and carefree. "The mouth on you!" she guffaws, before looking around. "Didn't I see you run over to two other boys in an alleyway? Are they around?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Jin insists, determined not to give away his brothers. His courage is somewhat undone when, a few moments later, Cheung and Hu step forward to check on him.

"There you are." She looks from Jin to Cheung to Hu. "I can tell you're brothers. What are your names?"

Jin looks at the ground. Cheung looks at where Sue is still holding Jin's arms. Hu feels like he might cry or run.

"All right, come back behind the counter here. I'm sure you're starving, and I have some extra buns I probably won't sell today." She releases Jin. In a moment, the three brothers tense to run, but she gestures for them to follow her. Their hunger wins out over their fear, and they join her behind the counter. It smells great back there, and their mouths water at the sight of so many loaves, buns, and cakes.

She goes through a basket of buns and picks three that are imperfect, with their dough split so that a bit of their filling shows. "Here. They may not be pretty, but they should taste fine."

Hu and Cheung hesitate, so Jin snatches all three buns and hands one to each of his brothers. In a moment, all three are stuffing their faces, making a mess.

The baker laughs. "Slow down! Chew! You'll choke to death."

The brothers slow down, chewing with open mouths. As they eat, their eyes dart around the stand, appraising the piles of baked goods around them.

"My name is Sue. And who are you three?"

Hu glances at his brothers to see their reactions, ready to follow their lead. As it turns out, they are glancing at each other, and back at him. Nobody is sure what to do. For the moment, they chew, finishing their buns.

Sue waits. Once they have finished eating and they still do not seem inclined to introduce themselves, she sighs. "I told you my name. It's only fair that you tell me yours." When that tactic yields nothing but silence, she adds, "If you're going to come by here again in the future, I'm going to have to know what to call you."

Hu checks his brothers' reactions while avoiding eye contact with Sue. Jin is glaring at the ground again. Cheung looks thoughtful, and finally, he speaks up. "I'm Cheung," he says.

"Nice to meet you, Cheung."

Hu looks doubtfully at Jin, then makes up his mind. "And I'm Hu."

Jin crosses his arms. "Jin."

"And it's nice to meet you, Cheung and Jin."

Jin's eyes have not left the floor. "So you're going to keep feeding us?"

Sue takes a moment to respond, and a crease appears between her eyebrows. "When I can, yes. I'm afraid times are sort of tough for me, and I can't afford to give away too much."

Jin scowls and scoffs.

"But," Sue continues, ignoring Jin and looking at Hu and Cheung, "When I do have extra, you're welcome to have it. And you can't live just on bread, anyway, so you'll need to get food from elsewhere. Vegetables especially."

"We've been doing okay," Cheung replies, despite appearances.

Sue nods. "Well, I can't stand around talking all day. I have to sell everything here!" She looks around and picks out a loaf of bread with a hard, dark crust. "Here. Take this with you so you don't forget!"

Cheung accepts the loaf and turns to go. Jin is quick to fall in behind him, but Hu hesitates. "We don't have a place to stay…"

Sue's easygoing smile wavers and fades. "Oh, I wish it were that easy. The place I'm renting is barely big enough for me."

"Maybe we can stay at the bakery!" Hu presses. "Or… or here, at the stand! We don't need much room!"

Sue shakes her head. "I don't own the bakery, either, or the stand. And the people I work for… I'm sorry."

Hu nods, trying to look as grown-up as he can. "I understand."

Once they are out of earshot of the stall, Jin pokes Hu's arm. "She can't take in every orphan she meets! What did you think she was going to say, anyway?"

Hu shrugs. "I don't know. I was just asking, that's all."

Cheung leads them into a quiet alley. Once the noise of the market has died down a bit, he breaks a hole in the crust with his thumb, tears off a hunk, and hands it to Jin. He tears off another hunk for Hu, so that each piece is roughly the same size. Once they have all eaten a bite, he says, "Jin is right. You shouldn't ask people for too much. And if someone is giving you something, you really shouldn't ask for more, or they might take it back."

Hu considers this. "I don't think she was going to take it back," he says.

"Maybe," Cheung says.

They eat.

* * *

They visit Auntie Sue every week or so. They worry about annoying her if they visit too often. Some days she has food for them, and other days she does not. Even when she does not have anything for them, it is nice to see a friendly face. When she is with a customer, they keep their distance until the customer leaves. They like Auntie Sue, and they do not want to make her mad by driving away her customers.

Months pass.

One day, Auntie Sue has a customer who does not seem to want to leave. Even after buying a loaf of bread and putting it into her bag, the girl waits, looking around.

Hu and his brothers wait beside a stall selling bootleg movies. They duck back every time she glances in their direction.

Jin sniffs. "What's her deal?"

"Is she still there?" Cheung whispers.

Hu leans out to check, then quickly retreats. "Yeah."

They wait, and check, and wait some more. The girl chats with Auntie Sue, or looks around the market, or leans against the stand while checking her phone.

"Come on, let's just get out of here," Jin grumbles. "I don't know what's going on with that girl, but whatever it is, I don't want to bother with it."

Cheung and Hu exchange glances. They were looking forward to some of Auntie Sue's buns. It's disappointing to leave without at least asking if she has any to spare, but they have to agree that Jin has a point. That girl is definitely weird.

A few days later, they decide to try Auntie Sue's stand again. When they appear, Aunt Sue demands, "What was that about the other day?"

The brothers are caught by surprise. Hu's hopes of a savory pork bun seem in jeopardy. His voice is tiny as he asks, "What was what?"

Sue waves her arms. "You know what I mean! That girl was waiting for you, and all you three did was hide over there and pop your heads up and down like meerkats on a nature show!"

Hu does not know what a meerkat is. He hopes it is not too bad. He looks to Cheung, who often know what to say in situations where Hu is unsure.

Cheung hangs his head, his face contrite. "Sorry, Auntie Sue." Jin and Hu follow his lead, mumbling their apologies.

Sue looks at them, her face serious as she thinks. "Do you three have any friends?"

Jin glares. "Of course we do!"

"Besides each other, I mean."

Jin frowns and looks at his brothers, unsure what to say to that.

Cheung asks Sue, "Who is she? The girl who was here?"

"She's one of my customers," Sue replies. "One of the nicer ones, too. And she's about your age, so I told her about the three troublemakers who come by here sometimes. She wants to meet you."

"She's taller than us," Hu observes.

"Girls your age frequently are," Sue says. "Maybe she's a little older, but that's a good thing, too. You may learn some good manners from someone who's done a bit more growing up than you!"

"Why?" Cheung asks.

Sue's mouth twists in amused confusion. "Why learn good manners?"

Cheung's eyebrows draw together, his face serious. "Why does she want to meet us?"

Jin speaks up. "Is it because we're poor? She wants to look at us because we don't have a home?"

Sue gives him a stern look. "That's not it. She just wants to meet you, that's all."

"But why?" Jin asks.

It seems like a valid question to Hu. "Yeah, why?" he prompts.

Sue thinks for a moment, then smiles, her eyes mischievous. "Maybe she thinks you're handsome!" That earns a chorus of moans and protests from the boys. "Or maybe she doesn't have many friends of her own, and she's looking to make a few more," Sue adds, which the brothers find easier to accept.

Cheung scratches a scab on his elbow. "Do you think she'll come by here again?"

"I'm sure she will. She comes by here pretty regularly, doing shopping for her family."

Jin looks over the baskets of bread, buns, and cakes, as though taking inventory. "Do you let her have things for free?"

Sue chuckles. "No, that deal only extends to three young rapscallions I know. I've found that stuffing their faces with bread is the only way I can get them to stop pestering me with questions! She pays for her groceries like everyone else." She pauses, then adds, "Though I do sometimes slip in an extra croissant for her, along with her purchases. Her folks don't give her much money to buy things for herself."

"You're very kind," Cheung observes.

Sue smiles, though her expression is somewhat rueful. "Well, it's really not much. You three and that girl are the only ones I give things to. And even then, I probably shouldn't." She puts her hands on her hips. "But the people who own this stand and the bakery don't own me!" She lowers her voice. "I just wish I could do more."

Hu can see from the way Auntie Sue's cheeks tense up that it might be a good idea to bring the conversation back to the girl. "What's her name?"

"Ying," Sue replies. "It's a good name, don't you think?"

The brothers exchange glances and mutter, noncommittal. "Is she nice?" Hu asks.

"She's always nice to me!" Sue says, some of her usual good humor returning. "As for you three, well, you'll have to find out. The next time you see her, why don't  you come over and say hi?"

"I'll bet she's weird," Jin postulates. "I'll bet that's why she doesn't have any friends."

Sue shrugs. "Could be. So what?"

This elicits more mumbling and muttering. Cheung decides that is enough talk about this girl for now. "Do you have any buns we can have?"

A few weeks pass, and they visit Auntie Sue's stand several times, but they do not see Ying. The brothers don't mention it, and they try to pretend like they don't even notice, but Hu feels disappointed every time they visit and Ying is not there. Based on the way his brothers' shoulders slump when they catch sight of the food stand without the girl in sight, he knows his brothers feel the same way.

Then one day, there she is. She waits at the stand, a bag of groceries resting on the counter, looking around at the faces in the market and occasionally exchanging a few words with Auntie Sue. Hu is suddenly overcome with an unexpected reluctance to approach the stand. He is excited that the girl has finally reappeared, but he finds that he is not in a hurry to approach her. He decides to let his brothers lead the way and follow behind them. As it turns out, though, it seems like his brothers have the same thought, as they all try to get behind each other.

The three of them are moving more and more slowly as they approach the stand, and it seems like they are in very real danger of going backwards when the girl looks over and sees them. She smiles, and in that instant, all forward momentum ceases as the brothers are caught off guard. They must be staring, because she suddenly looks down, self-conscious, before looking up at Auntie Sue. The baker is standing behind her counter like a queen, arms folded, with a self-satisfied smile on her face.

Cheung inhales. "Well, come on," he says, in a tone that has marshalled countless troops through the ages. Jin and Hu fall in behind him as they make their way through the market shoppers to the stand.

When they arrive, there is a moment when the four of them look each other over, silent for now. Hu finds that the girl is not as pretty as he had remembered her. Her eyes are wide set, and her nose has some small pimples. Perhaps that is why he feels compelled to study her so intently. He is sure his brothers must feel the same way, because they are just as quiet.

Sue finally breaks the silence. "So," she says, and leaves it at that.

"I'm Ying," the girl says. Her voice is sweet.

Cheung smiles. "I'm Cheung." Then he adds, "I'm the oldest," which strikes Hu as an unnecessary thing to say, given that the brothers were born minutes apart.

Jin draws himself up. "My name is Jin. I was born second."

Hu considers reminding his brothers that their birth was not a race, but he settles for simply stating, "And I'm Hu."

Cheung glances at Hu before looking back at Ying. "He was born last." Hu's eyes go wide at this minor betrayal.

Ying laughs. "I gathered that." She studies them. Their clothes are dirty and shabby, and Hu takes a step back with the realization that he probably smells bad. "Do you know about the kaiju?"

The brothers exchange glances. "Giant monsters," Jin says. "They haven't come here yet, so…"

Ying changes the subject. "Do you go to school?"

Hu's face falls at the thought of admitting to Ying that they do not, but Cheung speaks first. "Nah, we don't bother with that." He makes it sound cool.

Ying seems interested rather than judgmental. "So how do you learn things like history and writing?"

Cheung shrugs. It is a more eloquent response than Hu could have come up with.

Ying's eyes light up. "I'll tell you what! How about if I bring you my old textbooks?" She pauses. "You do know how to read, right?"

Jin says quickly, "Of course we do!" Nevermind that the three of them are out of practice. Hu figures they must have dropped behind their old classmates. It did not occur to him before.

"I'll bring the books the next time I come by! Will you be here?"

Hu hesitates. Will she expect them to read out of the books on the spot? What if there are characters he does not know? "You could just leave them with Auntie Sue," he offers.

Ying hesitates. "I guess I could do that," she allows.

Cheung brightens. "When will you come by next? We can be sure to be here on the same day!"

"Probably," Jin adds.

Ying does some quick calculations. "I think probably next Wednesday."

Cheung pretends to think it over, as though going through their schedule in his head, though Hu doubts Ying is fooled. Cheung declares, "Okay, we'll try to be here."

"Great!" Ying says. "I'll see you then!" With a smile for each of them, she takes her bag and walks off.

Once she is out of earshot, Hu asks, "Auntie Sue, what day is it today?"

* * *

Ying brings them books, and the brothers divide them up and pass them around. Cheung skips to the parts that interest him, and Jin sometimes opens the books randomly and reads whatever, but Hu does his best to start at the beginning and work his way through. Luckily, one of the first books Ying brings them is a dictionary, so Hu can look up characters he does not know. He starts to collect pencils, pens, and discarded bits of paper to practice his writing on.

They talk to Ying about her interests, her friends, and the shows she watches on TV. Hu asks her questions about the books he read, such as when there was a part in a story that he did not understand, or a math operation he can't keep straight. Ying is patient with them, and sometimes tries to show interest in their lives by asking how they are doing. The brothers usually let Cheung answer those question. He has a talent for making it sound like they are living an adventure, as opposed to rooting through trash and sleeping in nooks.

Just once, Hu makes the mistake of asking Cheung if he has a crush on Ying. Cheung insists that Hu must be the one with the crush, and Jin backs him up, prompting Hu to point out that perhaps it is actually Jin. The three of them scuffle, and the fight starts to escalate, as each punch or kick hits harder than the one before. It ends with several bruises, some nasty scrapes, a split lip, and two bloody noses. They all silently resolve not to bring the topic up again.

They wait until they are nearly healed up from the fight before returning to Auntie Sue's stand.

The books become a new way for them to track the passage of time. Whenever Ying brings them a new set of books, it means she has started a new class. Hu wonders what it must be like to have people teach you things. The books seem to do a good enough job for the most part, but it must be nice to have someone walk through a math problem or sum up a historical epoch.

* * *

The books are the first real possessions they hold onto. They are used to finding blankets and thicker clothes when it gets cold, but they usually abandon them when it gets warm again. They are reluctant to leave behind the books, though, and the extra effort of moving them around means that they stay at each place longer before moving on.

When they were small boys, they did not spend much time in any place, so they mostly dealt with other street kids. Older people did not pay them much notice. Now that they are almost teenagers and they stay in neighborhoods for several weeks at a time, they are around long enough to start to attract the notice of the locals. Local gangs come sniffing around with jeers and ultimatums, wearing flashy clothes and flashing blades. Other people on the street start to take interest in the brothers' movements, chasing them off from prime spots, or spots that could become prime spots.

The brothers learn to follow Cheung's lead. If Cheung leaves without a word, Hu and Jin follow. If Cheung stands up to the challengers, Hu and Jin back him up. And if Cheung throws a punch, his brothers charge in beside him, fists flying. Hu is glad they pick their fights, so they only fight when they know they can win. It is a welcome change from the beatings they took when they were younger.

They have no technique to speak of, not yet, but they quickly pick up what not to do. They rarely win fights, but at least the people they are fighting usually let them leave without giving the brothers too much of a beating. Jin introduces an idea where, once their bruises are less sore, they show each other the moves they picked up. Often these are moves that the others used on them, but occasionally one of them chances on something that actually works on their own.

When they fight others who are near their age, they start to win more regularly.

Getting stronger has a downside: when they lose, the beatings they receive afterward become more severe. Their opponents want to make sure that they stay down, and pay them back for the good hits they got in. Hu hates this part. He hates lying on the ground, exhausted, injured, as the kicks and punches come one after the next. There is nothing he can do except wait for their attackers to get tired or bored and leave. Sometimes the brothers can only crawl away to recover.

One night they are asleep in an alley when a group of drunk young gangsters with sleeve tattoos wakes them up with a few sharp kicks. The brothers are still recovering from a beating they took from a street gang the previous day. They are in no shape to fight, but they cannot run, either.

Cheung tries to reason with the gangsters, but his words are drowned out in laughter. He tries again, but gets a punch to the mouth for his efforts.

Jin leaps up and manages to catch one by surprise, knocking him down, before the others converge on Jin.

Hu tries to stand, but he feels ill from the combination of adrenaline, weariness, and his previous injuries. It does not take much to put him back down.

The gangsters take turns punching and kicking the brothers, laughing and goading each other on. Finally, one of them drags Hu over to a nearby side entrance to a warehouse. He dumps Hu on the ground, wrenches his arm over the doorstep, and stomps down. For a second, Hu tries not to scream, but the pain is unbelievable and he screams louder than he ever has in his life. That is finally enough for the gangsters, who join back up and leave, hurling a last few insults at the brothers.

Hu's brothers drag themselves over to him. They can only watch helplessly as Hu stares at his broken arm, the forearm twisted at a crazy angle. Hu only stops screaming when he runs out of breath. Then, when he has sucked down a few lungfuls of air, he starts screaming again. He wonders how long he must endure this when, finally, he passes out from the pain.

He wakes to new pain. Blinding, roaring pain. It takes him a few moments to realize that his brothers are trying to splint his arm, but first they have to align the broken bones.

He tries not to scream or move, but he can't help it. Jin holds him down while Cheung pulls on his broken arm. Hu feels the broken bones grinding against each other. The pain is unbearable. He thinks he might vomit, or pass out again.

When Cheung has got his bones lined up as best he can manage, he and Jin splint it with some torn strips of cloth and some pieces of wood they must have gotten from some discarded furniture.

Hu's breathing is shallow, his throat raw from screaming. He is drenched in sweat, too cold and too hot at the same time. The pain comes in waves, like a heartbeat. After a few minutes, he sinks back into unconsciousness.

It takes months for the arm to heal. Hu is miserable the whole time. For the first few weeks, every movement and jostle sends throbs of pain through his arm, and Hu is convinced that any healing that has happened must start over each time.

Cheung and Jin take care of him, bringing him food and water, helping him eat. They stay in the most out-of-the-way places they can find, and if anyone comes along and demands their space, Cheung and Jin help Hu stand so that they can find a different place. There are times when Jin wants to fight, but Cheung reminds him that this is not the time for fighting.

He has plenty of time to read now, but he finds it hard to concentrate. The more they move, the more books they have to leave behind.

When they visit Auntie Sue, Hu hangs back. She sees the sling, but she does not ask. She gives them more bread than she usually does, and when Cheung asks her if she will get in trouble for it, she barks at him to take the bread. It catches them all off guard.

For a long time, Hu thinks Auntie Sue was mad at him because he got himself hurt. It is not until much later that he realizes that she was frustrated because she could not do anything for him except give him bread. He is sure she got in trouble for it.

They only see Ying once while Hu's arm is healing. She looks so sad that Hu wishes he had stayed away. She does not say much about it, though, and Hu is grateful for that. They talk instead about what Hu has been reading. Ying praises him a lot, saying he understands more about the subjects than she does, which Hu doubts. Still, it is nice of her to say, and it makes him feel a bit better.

Hu's arm takes so long to heal that he starts to worry that it will never get better.

He has nightmares about his forearm becoming hard and swollen, then growing softer as it rots. In his dream, he tries to hold it together, squeezing the mushy flesh with his other hand until it starts to ooze through his fingers. It never works. Eventually, the festering arm stretches, splits, and falls off.

When he wakes, he cries quietly, afraid and miserable. He does not want to wake his brothers, but they shift nearer to him, careful not to disturb his arm even when they are not truly awake. He is still afraid and miserable, but it is good to have his brothers nearby.

When his arm shows signs of improvement, Cheung makes sure to remind Hu that he is getting better, and even Jin is positive. Hu tries to be optimistic for his brothers. He does not know how he will ever make it up to his brothers for all that they have done for him since his arm broke.

On the day they finally remove the splint, the brothers decide to celebrate. They take the money they have found lying around and carefully saved, and they buy ice cream. Cheung gets chocolate, Jin gets lychee, and Hu gets vanilla. They get some weird looks from the man running the ice cream shop and the other customers, but it is worth it. They try each other's ice cream, and it is all the most delicious thing Hu has ever tasted. He sort of wishes he had gotten lychee too, but he does not admit it to his brothers.

Hu works to recover his strength, exercising and practicing. At first he feels weak as a kitten, but slowly his strength starts to return. After waiting so long for his arm to heal, waiting longer to get stronger seems unfair. When he starts to push himself too hard, his brothers stop him, reminding him that injuring himself again will only make him weaker.

When he feels strong enough, he spars a bit with his brothers, and he gets frustrated when they take it easy on him. When they scuffle with others on the street, his brothers protect him, stepping in front of him and making sure he takes the least of the beatings.

He redoubles his efforts to get stronger, and this time, he resolves to be smart about it. He stretches to get range of motion back in his arm. He learns to rely less on his right arm, focusing on technique rather than strength and ferocity. It still takes a long time, but eventually, he starts to feel like he is starting to hold his own. He is still not as good as his brothers, but at least he is carrying his own weight.

* * *

They return one night to find a thin man in a patched and dirty overcoat resting in their corner, idly flipping through one of their books.

"Hey, what the hell?" Jin demands, advancing on him.

The man sets the book down and stands, his knees popping. He smiles, revealing surprisingly white teeth. "Take it easy. I was just waiting for you. That book's not my style, anyway. Not enough pictures."

Jin bristles, but Cheung lays a hand on his shoulder. "You were looking for us?" he asks.

The man takes a step forward and cranes his neck forward, inspecting each of them in turn. "Are you really triplets?"

Hu mouths "weird" to Jin, who scowls and nods.

"Yes," Cheung replies, ignoring his brothers.

"Identical?"

It is a fair question. Their faces are smeared with varying amounts of grime and scabs. Jin's nose, broken years ago, is still noticeably crooked. Jin has lost a tooth, and Hu has lost several. Cheung, meanwhile, keeps his hair shorn, since that makes it easier to stay clean. Jin's hair is the longest, hanging in stringy clumps into his face. Cheung's face has the least amount of grime, Jin's has the most, and Hu is somewhere in between. The man continues to study them, taking in these details.

"Yes," Cheung repeats. Jin moves restlessly, squaring his shoulders and pacing, so Cheung adds, "What's your name?"

"Yan," the man replies. "You beat up some of my guys."

Jin takes a step forward, and Yan quickly steps back. "So what?" Jin growls.

"Your guys?" Cheung asks.

Yan chuckles, keeping his eyes on Jin. "It might be more accurate to say ‘my coworkers,' since we have the same boss. They came around here a couple of nights ago."

Cheung nods. "They tried to push us out. We defended ourselves."

"And did a pretty good job of it, too, based on what I heard." His eyes fall on their tangle of blankets and books. He scowls. "How would you like to get out of here? A roof over your head, your own beds, free meals? I'll bet that sounds pretty good, right?"

The brothers exchange looks. That does sound pretty good. They wait for Yan to continue.

Yan begins, "I know a guy who puts together fights--"

Hu interrupts him. "We won't fight each other." His brothers nod, their eyes intense. This is not negotiable.

Yan waves that away. "Of course, of course. You're a matched set. They'd be fools to pit you against each other! I'm picturing the three of you against other groups of three. Anyway, what do you think? Tell you what, say you're in, and I'll take you out for dinner right now. My treat. What do you say?"

Cheung considers it. "These fights. Are they--"

"They're not to the death or anything!" Yan says, his smile wide. He speaks quickly. "The fights go on until someone gets knocked out, or you surrender. If you break a limb, they'll stop the fight, usually. If you lose a fight, they patch you up, and you live to fight another day."

The brothers exchange a look. They do not need to discuss. Whatever these fights turn out to be like, they must be better than the lives the brothers are living now. It cannot be worse. They are fighting now, after all, and scrounging for food, and sleeping where they can.

"Okay," Cheung says.

Yan grins. "Good choice!"

Yan said he would take the brothers to dinner, which turns out not to be quite true. Instead, he buys them takeout, and they eat on the steps to a boarded-up apartment building. The food is cheap, the rice soggy and the noodles greasy. It is the finest meal the brothers have had in a long time.

The roof they were promised is not what they pictured, either. Yan takes them to a featureless building that looks like a warehouse from the outside. The inside is a maze of rooms and corridors. They pass men in gaudy fashions and elaborate hairstyles and women in very short skirts and either sleeveless shirts or long-sleeved jackets. Whenever Hu makes eye contact, he receives a smirk in return, so he stops making eye contact.

They share a room with several other fighters, sleeping in bunkbeds with metal frames and stained sheets. Because there are three brothers, Hu has to share a bunkbed with a boy with thick stubble on his chin and the worst body odor Hu has ever smelled. Hu stashes their books under his brothers' bed; he does not trust the boy to keep an eye on them.

Yan leaves them for the night, telling them to get some sleep. In the morning he will introduce them to the man who runs the building and organizes the fights.

Hu has a hard time falling asleep. He is used to sleeping close to his brothers, for safety and warmth. Even on hot nights, when they sprawled out as much as they could, they remained within reach of each other. Now, he cannot reach his brothers, and it is hard to hear the sound of their breathing among the snores and shifting of the others in the room.

Hu wakes in the middle of the night and nearly falls off the bed, disoriented to find himself in an unfamiliar room. It takes him a moment to remember where he is, and he stares around himself in the darkness, trying to make out his brothers' bed. His heart slows in his chest, but he finds himself wishing that they were back outside, on their own. This is not their place. He reminds himself that they will have food here, and nobody will try to take their things or their resting places. Still, he is cold and lonely as he falls back asleep.

* * *

The next morning, the others in the room leave one by one for the cafeteria. There is no sign of Yan, so the brothers go, too.

The cafeteria is smaller than Hu expected. The room is packed with long tables lined with folding chairs. A smaller table at one end of the room has stacks of metal bowls, spoons, and big plastic bowls of porridge. The room has a sour smell, possibly from old food, possibly from the people crowded into it.

The brothers take bowls and fill them with porridge, and they pour themselves glasses of orange juice from plastic pitchers. There is not enough room at any of the tables for all three of them to sit, so they stand around awkwardly, waiting for someone to leave. Occasionally, someone looks up at them, snorts, and looks away again. Eventually, Cheung leads them over to the end of one of the tables, where they can at least put their cups down to free up their hands so that they can eat.

The porridge is cold on top and lukewarm underneath. The orange juice is thin and watery. It is far from the worst meal the brothers have had. They get seconds.

After breakfast, they wash up in the dorm-style bathroom.

Hu is the last to leave. He is poking a zit when an older teen boy with a scar under his eye shoves him from behind. "Where are your brothers, huh?" the boy demands.

Hu knows enough to plant his feet, lower his stance, and shove the boy back. He doesn't have a comeback, so he stays quiet. Cheung might maybe have said something witty and cutting, or Jin something obscene, but his brothers are not here now. Hu has never been on his own in a fight before.

There are a few others in the bathroom, who stand back and watch.

The boy shoves him harder, and his hip bangs against the lip of the sink. The pain shoots down his thigh, and he stumbles but manages to catch himself. The boy comes at him with a punch this time, and he raises his arms to block, but he has no room to move, and the punch hits his forearm with full force. He hits the sink again. Hu cringes, his arms sag for a moment, and the boy follows up with another punch, glancing off Hu's arm and smacking him in the temple.

Plain blossoms through Hu's head. His arm hurts, and his hip hurts, and his head hurts most of all. Everything feels so strange, the fluorescent lighting and off-white tiles and the group of silently watching young men. There is something dreamlike about the moment, but a moment is all he has, as the boy recovers his balance after overextending on his last punch. Hu acts on instinct. He steps forward and leans into a punch. The dreamlike feeling disappears in an instant when his fist makes very real contact with the boy's cheekbone. The boy falls back, half-turning, and sprawls on the floor.

The door opens and Hu's brothers come back in, wondering what was taking him so long. The other boys move away, and Cheung and Jin take in the scene in a moment. Hu breathes out. "I'm coming," he says. He can tell from his brothers' tense faces that they see the pain he is in.

He squares his shoulder and walks as straight as he can over to them, ready to leave. He becomes aware too late that the boy has picked himself up and is charging at him again.

Cheung steps past him and cuts the boy off, delivering a punch to the gut the drives the air from the boy's lungs. Cheung straightens, and he drops an elbow on the boy's back, sending him thudding to the tiles.

Jin charges in, kicking the boy in the ribs. The boy sobs for air and tries to get up, so Jin kicks him again. The boy stops fighting, curling into a defensive ball. Jin keeps kicking, jaw clenched.

Hu steps up behind him. He reaches out a tentative hand, but pauses. He has seen Jin angry before, but never like this. Some part of him worries that Jin might turn on him. He touches Jin's shoulder. "Come on."

Jin turns and looks at Hu, his chest heaving. It takes a few moments, but the tension starts to drain from his stance. Hu knows in that moment why Jin reacted the way he did, and he knows Jin could never have turned that anger on him. Jin gives the boy one more kick for good measure before glaring at the assembled watchers. They look away. "Okay," Jin says, turning back to his brothers. They leave together.

* * *

Yan finds them in the gym, where Hu spots Cheung on bench presses while Jin pummels a punching bag. "Hey there!" he calls as he approaches the brothers. "It looks like you're settling in!"

Cheung huffs as he lifts the weight and Hu hooks it into its stand. Cheung sits up, toweling off his face and neck as he turns to Yan. Jin gives the bag a few more punches before picking up his water bottle and coming over to his brothers.

"What did I tell you?" Yan asks. "Beds, food… it's a pretty sweet deal, huh?"

Cheung's face is neutral, his voice level. "Is it time to meet the boss?"

"Yeah, I thought I'd introduce you." The brothers exchange glances. The silence goes on a little too long, so Yan says, "You've got nothing to worry about. I'm sure he'll love you. Come on!"

They follow Yan out of the gym and through the corridors. Yan leads them to the fight space, a high-ceilinged room with a sunken circle in the middle. The room is smaller than Hu had anticipated. He tries to imagine the room packed with people, shouting and pushing to see the fight. They peer into the circle as they walk past. It is not very deep, and the bottom is sandy.

At the far end of the room there is a metal staircase leading up to an office that overlooks the fighting circle. Yan leads the brothers up the staircase. At the top, two broad-shouldered men in sunglasses stand on either side of the door. One of them wears a white t-shirt and jeans, while the other one wears a gray suit and tie. They glance at the brothers, then turn to Yan.

The one in the t-shirt says, "He doesn't want you bothering him."

Yan spreads his hands. "He's expecting me! He asked me to bring him these guys."

The t-shirt man looks over Cheung, Jin, and Hu again. "Brothers?" he asks.

"Triplets!" Yan declares. "That should make for some interesting fights, huh?"

The t-shirt man frowns, then walks through the door, leaving it ajar behind him. Yan starts to follow, but the man in the suit holds up a hand. Yan stops, grumbling something.

Hu leans closer to his brothers and whispers, "Now what?"

Cheung shrugs. "Just wait."

After a while, the t-shirt man comes back out. "Okay," he says to Yan, holding the door.

Yan straightens his posture. "Thank you," he says. He enters the office, and the brothers follow. Hu looks around the room. Newspaper clippings are pinned to the walls, commemorating various local media events through the years. The shelves are lined with knicknacks like statues of foreign gods or souvenir snowglobes of famous cities. One shelf holds models of kaiju and Jaegers. Jin keeps his head down and his hands in his pockets. Cheung immediately makes eye contact with the man sitting behind a massive wooden desk. The t-shirt man follows them inside before closing the door.

The man behind the desk is middle-aged, his hair receding and nearly all gray. His body is heavily built, starting to sag but with heavy muscles still evident. He wears plastic-framed eyeglasses with a strong prescription, which magnifies his eyes.

"Yan," he says, by way of greeting.

"These are the brothers I was telling you about," Yan says, gesturing.

The man blinks slowly, the motion exaggerated by his glasses. "I can see that." He looks at each brother in turn. "Triplets, huh?"

Hu nods. Cheung says, "That's right."

The man waves his hand around, pointing vaguely among them. "Which one's which?"

"I'm Cheung." Cheung waits a second for his brothers to continue. Jin continues to look at the floor. Hu wonders if he should say something, but Cheung decides to handle it himself. "This is Hu, and this is Jin."

The man's voice is slow and drowsy. "What's your family name?"

"Wei."

The man leans forward, his eyes a little more focused. He looks at Hu. "Hu Wei?"

It was a direct question, so figures he should be the one to answer. "I guess," he says. He is more used to hearing his name as Wei Hu.

The man starts to smile. He points to the brothers in turn. "Hu Wei. Lu Wei. Du Wei."

Yan starts to laugh while the brothers look at each other, dumbfounded. When Yan realizes he is the only one laughing, he quiets down to a chuckle, then stops. He raises his eyebrows at the brothers. "What, you never watched Duck Tales?"

The brothers shake their heads.

The man says, "You can call me Mr. Li." He leans back. "So, you want to fight for me?"

Yan nods twice. "Yes, they do."

Mr. Li gives Yan a magnified glare. "I asked them."

Yan steps back, making a spinning motion with one hand to indicate that the brothers should step forward and talk.

Cheung rises to the occasion. "That's right."

"You're fighters?"

"We are."

Mr. Li looks Cheung in the eye. "Punch him." He points to Jin.

Cheung stiffens. Hu feels pinpricks all over his skin as he starts to sweat, unsure what his brother will do. Cheung measures his words as he replies, "We won't fight each other. We could fight as a team against other--"

Mr. Li cuts him off. "I'm not asking you to fight. I'm asking you to punch him. One punch." When Cheung still hesitates, Mr. Li's voice grows louder. "I want to know if you can throw a punch, and I want to know if he can take a punch."

Jin steps forward. "You want to know if I can take a punch?" He gestures to his own face, his misshapen nose, the scars everywhere.

Mr. Li is not impressed. "Let's see it," he says. "I don't like to repeat myself."

Yan stammers, "You should--"

Before Yan can finish, Jin grits his jaw, and Cheung's left hand flies out, hitting Jin squarely in the chin. Jin takes a step back, blinking hard. Hu feels the familiar adrenaline rush of a fight hit his system, but there is nothing for him to do, so he bounces on the balls of his feet. Jin steps forward again, popping his neck from side to side. Cheung's face is intense, but Hu can see the regret behind the bravado in his brother's eyes.

Mr. Li nods and places his hands on the table. "Okay. I'll have a fight for you soon."

With that, the meeting is over. Yan turns for the door and ushers the brothers out. "You boys go on. I just have a few things to work out with Mr. Li."

They hear Mr. Li's voice behind Yan. "Remind them I don't like to repeat myself."

Yan swallows hard, his eyes going wider. "He doesn't like to repeat himself."

Cheung nods. "We understand." With that, the brothers leave.

"That was annoying," Jin says as they walk across the room.

"I'm sorry I hit you," Cheung says.

Jin shrugs. "That's not what I meant. That was fine. That guy was annoying."

Hu is surprised at how unconcerned his brothers sound. "We have to do what he wants. We work for him now."

Jin shrugs. "Sure, we can give that a shot. But if we don't like it, we can always leave and live on our own again."

Hu frowns. "I'm not so sure."

Cheung slows down so that he can look at his brothers. "We can do this."

They walk on, lost in thought.


	2. Chapter 2

Their first fight is a few days later. Hu hasn't been sleeping well. He is still not used to sleeping so far from his brothers.

They face three guys, all a bit older than them and more experienced in the pit. One of them is the guy who attacked Hu in the bathroom. Hu wonders if he was picked on purposed.

Hu finds it hard not to be distracted by the crowd of people standing around the lip of the pit and yelling down at them. There are not many people, but with everyone pushes in close to see, it still feels like they are surrounded. It all has a surreal quality, since there is nothing tangible that they are fighting for. He does not even have a particular grudge against the boy from the bathroom.

They lose, eventually. They have never fought like this before. Hu is surprised at how quickly the fight is declared over. All three of them get knocked down, and as they struggle to stand, someone calls out that the match is over, and the other three have won. Well, at least the bathroom boy's nose is busted, and blood is running down over his mouth and chin. That's something.

They have no seen Yan since the meeting with Mr. Li, but Yan finds them after the fight. Adjoining the fighting space are two rooms, one for each team. The boys are cleaning themselves up in one of them when Yan walks in. "Great fight, boys, great fight!" he says, as though that were a greeting.

"We lost," Jin says, each word heavy with frustration.

Yan waves it away. "That fight was just to prove you could finish a match. You'd be surprised at how many guys start begging or crying or crapping their pants. Now, you'll have more fights. Some will be here, some at other places."

Cheung asks, "Will we be paid?"

Yan smiles like it's funny. "You'll have a place to sleep and you'll get meals. And you like that gym, right?"

The brothers are silent.

"You get good enough, maybe you'll get paid. Anyway, don't worry about that now. Rest up, heal up, and get ready for your next fight!"

* * *

When Hu pictures the fights, he pictures the ground. Often they fight on bare dirt, hard-packed but dusty, soaking up the blood, the spit, the sweat, and the tears. Sometimes they fight on hard wood, splintered from many fights before. When they fight on sand or sawdust, it is often already stained from previous fights. The worst fights are on concrete, abrasive and unyielding, doubling every blow that knocks him down.

The pain is not the worst part. The worst part is knowing that he has to get back up. If he does not, then his brothers will be outnumbered, and it will be Hu's fault. His aching muscles protest, but he has to drag himself up, get his feet under himself again, stand, and fight. Sometimes he stands only to be knocked back down. Sometimes his opponents do not even wait for him to finish standing. Part of him feels a perverse relief. He tried. His brothers could not expect more from him than that.

If his eyes are not gritty with dust, or stinging with sweat, or closed against blood, or swollen shut, he can see his brothers. If he cannot see them, he can picture them.

Cheung thrills to the cheers of the crowd, feeding off their sound. If the crowd is on their side, Cheung gets a look on his face, determined and menacing. Hu calls it his "Bruce Lee face." Cheung leans into his punches more, blocks harder, and shakes off blows that would otherwise have rattled him.

Jin's face is always the same, regardless of the crowd: squinted eyes, compressed lips, flaring nostrils as he pushes down the pain and the fear. When they enter the arena, to Jin, there is only the fight.

The bosses like to describe the brothers to the crowds as having a shared connection that allows them to fight as a seamless unit. They know each other and trust each other, and they fight better together than they ever would apart. Despite their youth, they face larger, more experienced fighters.

They lose a lot. It is hard for coordination and trust to overcome a disparity in muscle mass and technique.

When the fights go badly, Jin is frequently the last one standing, refusing to fall even when he can barely lift his hands to defend himself. There are even times when, through determination and force of will, Jin keeps fighting alone long enough for one or both of his brothers to get back up and finish the fight. Once, when Cheung and Hu are too beaten to fight, Jin manages to knock out both of the remaining opponents by himself. More frequently, Jin's stubbornness only means that he takes the worst beating of the three.

More than once, Hu has to listen to the sounds of his brother being beaten, praying that Jin will give in, stay down, and let the beating end. Hu feels like a traitor for wishing his brother to lose, but if there is no chance of victory, what is the point of fighting? It seems that question has followed Hu from his days on the street into his new life as a fighter.

Hu hates being the first to go down. While he may not have the technique of Cheung or the tenacity of Jin, he holds his own in most regular fights. It is hard to face the reality that not only is he the weakest of the three, but the best fighters can pick up on that and exploit it to his brothers' detriment. He is painfully aware that his right arm did not heal well after being broken, and he will never be as strong as his brothers again. The first few times they lose, he tries to apologize to his brothers after the match, his voice cracking as he can't even look them in the eye. They insist there is nothing to apologize for. Still, they seem frustrated and avoid the topic. Hu stops trying to apologize, but he still feels awful.

The brothers train hard, working out, practicing, and sparring. Cheung's desire to be the best carries him forward, while Jin has a dogged stubbornness that drives him. Hu finds it hardest to push himself. He will always be the weakest, no matter what he does. When he is exhausted, sore, and hurt, he just wants to sit, to rest, to sleep until he feels better. But he forces himself to get up, to go to the gym, to do one more set, to stand and square up once more. When he is in the ring, he will need every ounce of muscle, every possible edge. If he allows himself to rest and he loses as a result, he will let his brothers down again, and he will never forgive himself.

Besides that, sitting and resting while his brothers train reminds him too much of the time he spent waiting for his broken arm to heal. He does not want to feel that inactive, that useless again.

Hu concentrates so hard on not losing that it takes him a while to notice when they start winning. More and more, he picks himself up from the floor to see Cheung lifting his arms to the crowd, his face glowing with triumph while Jin stalks the pit, his shoulders hunched, his eyes flicking from the crumpled forms of their opponents to the jubilant crowd.

When they win fights in other buildings, the bosses there sometimes give the brothers some cash. When they win fights at home, Mr. Li never gives them money, but he gives them something they need just as much: some time off.

Technically, they could have left and walked the city anytime they wanted. Nobody ever told them they had to stay in the building and its surrounding neighborhood, which is all controlled by Mr. Li, between fights. Nobody had to say anything: the brothers are familiar enough with the way things work to know that, until they gained the trust of Mr. Li and his lieutenants, they had to stay where someone could keep an eye on them. Now that they are winning more regularly, the brothers can roam.

"I still don't see the point," Jin declares as the brothers leave the alley that marks the edge of Mr. Li's territory one afternoon. A couple of tattooed toughs follow them with their eyes but do not make any move to stop them. Cheung ignores them, so Hu does, too, though Jin gives them a glare. "We have another fight coming up in less than two weeks. We could be training."

Hu wants to say that he's sick of training, but he does not want to get on Jin's bad side. He looks at Cheung and waits for him to reply.

"There's more to life than fighting," Cheung says.

Jin does not reply, but he follows Cheung as the three of them walk through the city. Hu is not surprised that their steps turn toward the market where Auntie Sue sells her bread. The market seems smaller now, perhaps because the boys have grown, and perhaps because Hu does not have to keep an eye out for trouble. They are no longer three scrawny boys living on the streets. People are not going to mess with three rangy young men in tracksuits, with the signs of their violent trade stamped on their faces.

Hu is honestly surprised when they find Auntie Sue's bread stall, and it still looks the same as before. He did not expect to find a piece of his old world here in his new life.

Auntie Sue smiles as they approach, but her smile is not as wide or as welcoming as it was before. "Well well," she says. "Look who's here."

The boys duck their heads, suddenly bashful. They mostly look at each other rather than looking at Auntie Sue. They each wait for one of the others to say something, but none of them knows what to say.

"Hi, Auntie Sue," Cheung says. Hu has to admit that it's better than nothing.

"Hi yourself," she replies, raising an eyebrow. "You three look like you don't need me to give you free bread anymore."

Just a few minutes ago, Hu had enjoyed the looks of respect their appearance had earned. Now, he feels suddenly ashamed. It had never occurred to him that Auntie Sue wouldn't give them bread. He had been looking forward to it. While they can have all the food they can eat in the cafeteria, it does not compare to the unsellable castoffs they used to get from Auntie Sue.

Cheung says, "We wanted to check up on you. How are you doing?"

"About the same as ever. Things don't really change for me. I bake bread, and I sell bread. The only thing that breaks up the monotony is when young hoodlums try to steal from me." Her voice gets a little quieter, a little huskier. "These days, that doesn't happen as much as it used to in the past."

"Do you need anything?" Cheung asks. "We have some money--"

"No!" Auntie Sue says, so suddenly that she even shocks herself. She stops, collects herself. When she speaks again, something has changed between them. "I couldn't take anything from you. You need it more than I do."

"We've got everything we need," Jin says. "Food, a place to sleep. So we don't really need this money. We never paid you back for all the bread you've given us over the years. This would only cover some of it, but…"

Auntie Sue shakes her head. Her facial muscles are tight, her expression controlled. "If I had wanted money for that bread, I never would have given it to you. You don't owe me anything. I only wish… I only wish I could have given you more." This elicits a chorus of protests from the brothers. She waves them away. "Enough of that."

They stand around for a few moments. "It's good to see you again, Auntie Sue," Hu says.

"Yeah," Auntie Sue says, and her face relaxes somewhat. She looks at the boys in turn, Cheung with his close-cropped hair and measuring eyes, Jin with his shaggy mane and crooked nose. Hu wonders what she sees when she looks at him. Whatever it is, her eyes seem to linger on him the longest, and she looks the saddest when looking at him. "I'm glad you came by." She sighs. "I should probably start closing up."

None of the other stands are packing up yet, but the brothers say nothing as she starts to put away the bread.

"Thanks for everything you've done for us," Hu says.

Auntie Sue doesn't look at him as she bends for a box. "It's nothing. Helped pass the time. Gave me something to look forward to, you know." She gets a bit of flour in her eye and wipes it away on her shoulder.

"See you later," Cheung says, and his brothers echo him.

"Yeah, see you around."

As they leave, Hu still wishes he could have tasted her bread again. It occurs to him too late that he could have bought some.

They spend the rest of the evening buying clothes at a store that sells pretty good knockoffs of designer brands. Cheung buys a long coat with a tall collar. Jin buys army boots and a leather jacket. Hu buys jeans and some t-shirts, which earns jeers from his brothers.

"You have no style," Jin says with a smirk.

"Don't tell him," Cheung laughs. "If he doesn't know, we'll look so much cooler by comparison."

Jin grins at that, revealing his missing teeth. Hu smiles in response. It is so rare to see his brothers smile these days.

That night, he wonders why none of them asked Auntie Sue about Ying.

* * *

They are in the middle of a fight when a kaiju attacks Hong Kong. Mr. Li assures everyone that the compound is as sturdy as any shelter, so they are safe. Hu knows he is lying, but there is not point in mentioning it. Who would let them into a shelter?

Someone has a portable speaker, so the organizers pause the fight and everyone listens to the news as it comes in. Occasionally they can hear rumbling like distant thunder, and once the ground shakes. Hu stands in the pit, chest heaving as blood and sweat drip from his face and his hands, listening to the reports about the creature's appearance, the PPDC's response, the casualties and devastation.

Suddenly nobody is in the mood for more violence.

People start to leave. After a few minutes, the brothers start to climb out of the pit. One of the other fighters, a bulldog-faced young man, grabs Hu's shoulder. "The fight's not over!" he declares, raising a fist.

Hu gives the fighter an incredulous look. Even his partners seem confused. One of them scoffs audibly, while the other one starts climbing out of the pit, shaking his head. After a moment, the other fighter sniffs, drops his fist, and lifts himself up out of the pit. Hu follows.

That evening at dinner, an intercom broadcasts news reports. The brothers don't listen long. The newscasters mostly just repeat themselves, and the brothers figure that anything worth knowing will be repeated in the morning.

Once they finish eating, they return to the dorm. Nobody else is there, so the brothers sit together on one of the beds.

They have grown used to sleeping in separate beds. Their memories of huddling as close as they could now feel like remnants of their previous life, before they came here. Still, it feels good to sit together, shoulder to shoulder.

Hu tries to think of something to say, but the longer they sit, the harder it becomes to break the silence. A few times, Cheung or Jin take a deep breath, as though about to say something, but they always change their mind, and the silence remains.

Because the crowds are not in the mood for fights, the brothers have time to kill. They work out, spar, and even catch up on their reading. The most important thing they can do is rest. They each always seem to have a rotating list of injuries, since they are never fully healed before the next fight. It is nice to have a chance to recover.

It is hard to comprehend the level of threat the kaiju represent. Some people make the kaiju's skeleton into a temple. Some of the other fighters even buy relics from the kaiju cultists. There is no good way to process it all.

Seemingly overnight, everything seems to flip. The shock of the attack wears off, leaving a city full of pent-up frustration, fear, and anger.

Suddenly the brothers are back to fighting, and the rooms are packed. The crowds can't seem to get enough. Their appetite for violence is nihilistic, apocalyptic even, a need to consume localized acts of destruction even as juggernauts from another world threaten to tear everything apart.

The brothers are exhausted, but so are the other fighters. The brothers take strength from each other, and perhaps this, more than anything else, gets them through the fights. These days, they rarely lose.

At night, in the dorms, Hu can hear the other fighters tossing and turning, or muttering to themselves, or sobbing as quietly as they can.

With the strain on the fighters, it is only a matter of time before a body gives out, a heart stops, and someone collapses dead to the ground.

The first time it happens to one of the Weis' opponents, a hush falls over the crowd. It is not a reverent silence. The audience leans forward, mouths open, drinking it up with their eyes.

Mr. Li addresses the packed crowd, his voice carrying through the room. "Such is the nature of life." He tries to affect a somber tone, but he cannot keep the satisfaction out of his voice. "We could all be but a moment from death!" He makes sure that, whenever a fighter dies in the ring, the attendants waste no time in removing the body from the pit. On their way through the crowd, they always carry the body past the highest-betting patrons.

It bothers Hu when someone dies during one of their fights. After the third time it happens, he brings it up to his brothers.

Cheung frowns, knitting his forehead. "We have to fight as hard as we can. If you hold back for fear of what might happen, we'll lose." He rubs a hand over his elbow, where a scar has split open and is leaking blood. "Unless we go all-out, one of us might be the one to die."

Jin stands and paces back and forth. His brothers watch him, giving him a chance to get his thoughts together before speaking. Finally, Jin stops pacing and says over his shoulder. "We have no choice but to fight. Mr. Li calls the shots, and the others like him. Whatever happens, it's on them."

"We could leave," Hu says, his voice quiet. "We don't have to be here. Would they try to stop us?"

Jin drops into a crouch. "Where would we go? Back to living on the streets? What would we do? Get a job? What skills do we have, besides hurting people? Who would hire guys who look like us?"

"I don't know!" Hu says, his voice rising. "There's gotta be something!"

Cheung looks between his brothers. "If you want to get out, we can work on it. We'll keep our eyes open. In the meantime, we have to fight." Hu looks away, so Cheung steps over to him. "Can you do that?"

Hu closes his eyes and breathes in through his nose, then out. "Yeah. I can do that.

Sometimes, when the final fight still has not sated the crowd's need for blood, a fresh group of fighters is sent in against the winners of the last fight. This usually means that the unfortunate, exhausted fighters are defeated in short order. The brothers dread these moments, and every time they are the last fighters of the night, Hu waits with his heart pounding in his chest, hoping they are allowed to leave, waiting to hear if more fighters will be sent in. It seems like those beatings are always especially brutal, and the brothers are more likely to receive injuries, all to feed the baying crowd.

Their legend is born when they win their second fight of the night.

Their first fight is against three young men, roughly the same age as the Weis. They are broad at the shoulders and tall, and they sneer down at the brothers while they size each other up. One of them has his hair dyed blond and in braids that hang down almost to his shoulders. Another one has a tribal tattoo across the right side of his face, and another to match it on his right shoulder and pectoral. The third has a shapeless, much-broken nose, a cauliflower ear, and a scar from his left eye to his lip that gives him a sleepy scowl.

Cheung crosses his arms and returns their stares, his face serene while his eyes burn with cold fire. Jin flexes his fingers, makes fists, flexes his fingers, makes fists, as he glares back at the other fighters through his greasy hair. Hu feels a calm settle over him. It does not matter how strong the other fighters are, or how good their technique is, because he has his brothers. The match can start whenever. Hu is ready.

The word is given, and the other fighters advance on the brothers as the crowd roars their encouragement. Eager to get things started, Jin pounces, unleashing on the fighter with the smashed nose. Blocking and dodging, Nose falls back, working to tire Jin out. The other two circle toward Hu, avoiding Cheung as they prepare to gang up on who they see as the weakest opponent.

Hu is fed up with being singled out. He takes a step forward, ready to engage, when another thought strikes him. If his opponents want to target him, let them. He is tired of trying to prove that he is as strong as his brothers. He is not, so it is time to fight that way.

It only takes him a second to make his decision. He makes eye contact with his opponents in turn, grits his jaw, and takes a step back. The blond fighter and the tattooed fighter split up, one moving right and the other left so that at least one of them can keep Hu between him and Cheung. Hu knows this trick; whichever one fights him will go all-out, while the other one only needs to keep Cheung busy.

Hu's fists are so tight they hurt. He wants to throw a punch, or even to be punched, anything to start the real fight. The crowd shouts at them to begin, offering both taunts and encouragement. Hu takes another step back, then another. While Blond gestures at Cheung to come on, Tattoo lopes in toward Hu. Hu's legs tense. This is it.

Then he feels his brother's hand on his shoulder. Cheung has an idea. Hu takes his eyes off the charging opponent for a split second to look over at Cheung, and that moment is enough for him to understand Cheung's meaning. He dodges back behind Cheung while Cheung crosses over in front of him. Hu is suddenly opposite Blond, whose eyes go wide with surprise a moment before Hu rocks forward on the balls of his feet, digs into the dirt with his toes, and pushes off, leading with his left hand. Behind him, he can hear Tattoo's shout of surprise at whatever Cheung just did to him.

Blond brings his arms up in time to block Hu's punch. Hu follows up with a right, which is also blocked, but it doesn't even matter because Hu falls back before the counterattack. Now he is the one keeping his opponent busy while his brothers take care of their opponents. He won't be the first one down this time. His only focus is on staying in the fight.

He is so intent on keeping Blond at a distance that he strays too close to Jin and Nose. Nose sees him and turns, delivering a straight punch to Hu's jaw that rattles him. Hu blinks hard, working his jaw to loosen it and see if it is dislocated or broken. Blond takes the opportunity to try to take Hu down, launching himself forward and driving his shoulder into Hu's solar plexus while wrapping his arms around Hu's chest to drag him down.

In that moment, several thoughts flash through his mind in fast succession. First, so much for wearing his opponents down until his brothers can win their fights. Second, at least he managed to avoid getting ganged up on. Third, Blond seems to be the weaker fighter, since originally Tattoo was going to fight Hu until Hu switched places with Cheung.

Fourth, Hu can win this.

He still feels the effects of Nose's punch, but it will take more than that to take the fight out of him. Blond's takedown is sloppy: he is taller than Hu, and so he grabbed Hu around the chest, when the waist would have been better. Hu slams his elbow into Blond's ear, and Blond's arms loosen.

Blond's momentum still takes them both to the dirt. Hu grunts as the air puffs from his lungs. Blond starts to raise himself, moving his legs to get his knees on either side of Hu, but Hu is having none of it. He grabs the back of Blond's head with one hand and swings another elbow, this time hitting Blond in the nose. Hu feels something snap, and Blond's nose flattens sideways, gushing blood. After this fight, he'll be lucky if his nose doesn't end up looking like Nose's.

The audience is loving it, letting out an obscene sound somewhere between a gasp and a cheer.

Blond reels back, so Hu punches him in the face, once, twice, three times. Blond's eyes unfocus and he falls sideways off of Hu. Hu is up in a moment. He glances at his brothers. Cheung trades punches with Tattoo while Jin and Nose roll on the ground. Jin is nearly upside-down, but he is latched onto Nose's arm and is pulling it back, getting it into a position where he can break it. Hu turns back to Blond, who is trying to get to his feet, though his feet keep going out from under him.

Time to finish it.

Blond's attempt to block is much too late, and Hu's fist connects with his stomach with a satisfying smack. Blond crumples.

Jin has Nose's arm twisted back, and Nose is using every ounce of his strength just to keep Jin from breaking his arm. Jin sees Hu glancing over and grins. He's fine. Hu checks on Cheung, who is driving Tattoo back with a series of punches, followed by a spinning kick that narrowly misses Tattoo's cheek. Hu raises his fists and approaches Tattoo.

Tattoo sees Hu approaching, and in the moment that he is distracted, Cheung lets out a shout and punches him full in the face. Then he does a second spinning kick, and this one connects perfectly. Tattoo hits the ground hard.

Nose roars in pain and frustration. Hu is not sure if his arm is broken, or if he is signaling his defeat. Either way, the fight is over. The brothers are declared the victors, and the audience screams its approval. The losers slink out of the pit while the brothers come together, linking arms to hold each other up while they catch their breath.

Hu can feel what is coming next. The audience is too keyed up to stop now.

Mr. Li appears in the front of the crowd. "The night is not over yet!" he declares to the jubilant throng. "Who wants to see one more match?"

He has barely finished talking when three fresh fighters stride through the crowd and drop into the pit. They are older the the Weis and bulky with muscles. Their eyes have the knowing, measuring look of veterans.

Cheung pulls his brothers close. "This has gotta be fast," he says, and at first Hu thinks he means that the brothers are so exhausted that they will lose quickly. He is about to object when he sees the look in Jin's eyes.

"Yeah," Jin says, smiling as though tasting the word. Then he shouts it: "Yeah!"

"We can win," Hu says, surprised that he means it. "We're going to win this!"

Cheung grins at that. A moment ago, he seemed the most exhausted of the three, having gone one-on-one with probably the strongest fighter in the previous group. Now he stands up straighter, takes a deep breath, and lets it out.

The word is given to start the fight. Jin practically sprints at the one opposite him, and his brothers are not far behind. As exhausted as they are, they cannot afford a drawn-out fight. If they are going to win, it has to be quick.

Jin makes contact first. His opponent tries to keep his feet, but Jin spins his body somehow and they both crash to the ground. Then Hu has to concentrate on his own fight. His opponent has timed their meeting and leans into a big right punch.

Hu reacts on an instinct he never knew he had. He bends his knees and leans back. In a split second that seems to stretch, the incoming fist gets closer and closer, but Hu leans further and further back, until it stops a centimeter from Hu's nose. His opponent has fully extended himself. Hu brings up both of his arms. He holds his own right forearm against his opponent's wrist, holding it in place, before driving the heel of his left hand into his opponent's elbow. The elbow holds for a second before bending in a way it was never meant to. The crunching sound is stomach-churning, but feeling the bone break under Hu's hand is worse.

Hu is sure the audience must react, but it is drowned out by his opponent's scream as he drops to his knees. Hu steps back and checks on his brothers. Jin is over the fallen body of his opponent, not even punching or kicking so much as doing frenzied violence with every available limb. Whatever Cheung did, it ended his fight even faster than Hu's, because his opponent lies on the ground, holding his jaw as he stares at Cheung with surprise and awe.

They pull Jin off his opponent as the crowd chants their name.

They are legends.

Yan brings them to Mr. Li the next day. Hu had half-expected Mr. Li to talk to them the night before, but Cheung pointed out that he was probably up talking to his favorite customers and counting his take. Whether that is the reason or not, Hu is glad they at least had a night to rest. They were in no shape for anything after the fight.

Yan can barely contain his excitement. He keeps going on ahead, then urging the brothers to walk faster. The three of them are all tired and sore, but they do not want to keep Mr. Li waiting, so they hurry along as best they can.

The stairs up to Mr. Li's office are especially challenging. Somehow, they make it to the top, and this time the guards let them in without delay.

"You boys are just what I needed!" Mr. Li declares. He is holding a snow globe of Hong Kong, running his fingers lightly over the glass as he talks. "People want fighters they can get behind, fighters who can win against any odds, and you're it."

"Didn't I tell you?" Yan asks, his words spilling out in his eagerness to benefit. "These boys are stars!"

Mr. Li nods, but he barely looks at Yan. "You'll have the best of the best now. Consider yourselves vital parts of this organization."

"We won a fight," Cheung says. He is somewhat puzzled as to why Mr. Li is making such a big deal out of this. "Fighting is what we have always done."

Mr. Li shakes the snowglobe at them. The glitter inside swirls. "Winning is the key! Winning when there looks like there is no hope. People will remember this."

Cheung looks thoughtful. He has a way of making his confusion look compelling, like he is just about to grasp something and only needs a little hint to get there. "More than before?"

"This wasn't just any victory. To win two big fights in a row like that? Nobody expected that." He taps his fingernails on the glass of the snowglobe. "The thing on everyone's minds is the kaiju. What can we do about them? It takes the military so long to stop each one, and the kaiju do so much damage before they go down. But something like what happened last night lets people see a different story. Fight, fight no matter what, and win."

There is something about the way that Mr. Li says it that makes Hu nervous. He feels like he has to ask, "What if we lose?"

Mr. Li's hands stop moving and he looks up from the snowglobe. "If you lose sometimes, that's fine. You're still a winner. You've won before, and you'll win again. If you lose too much, though… well."

He does not finish the sentence. He does not have to.

Cheung's eyes are on the snowglobe. "Are we giving people hope, or just distracting them?"

"You're giving them the two things they need right now: fights that can be won, and winners who can pull off the impossible."

Hu can see the look in his brothers' eyes, and he recognizes it because it matches what he is feeling. All they were looking for was a place where they would have regular meals and a place to sleep. They do not know about all this other stuff.

* * *

Fancy clothes. Good food. Their own apartment, with wooden floors, tall ceilings, and big windows that look out at the other tall buildings around. A microwave, a stove, a refrigerator they can put their own food in, and eat out of anytime they like. Couches, chairs, and a big bed they all share. They sleep apart, but within arm's reach. It helps when Jin dreams he is suffocating under a pile of opponents, or when Cheung dreams his brothers are gone and he can't find them, or when Hu dreams of fights they can't win.

They have a television, which has constant shows about the struggle against the kaiju. Some of the reports cover the devastation, speculation about the kaiju and their origins, descriptions of the military response. There are also profiles of the Jaegers, the giant robots that fight the kaiju, and the people who pilot them.

There are even Chinese Jaegers. That is good, because the brothers worry about the inevitability of another kaiju attack on Hong Kong. The fear is part of the landscape.

The brothers still fight, but not as often, and they get money for each fight. They usually win. When they enter the arenas, the crowds chant their names. Their opponents look at them with respect, and sometimes fear.

The money is nice, because Yan pays for their apartment, so they keep everything they make. He provided the furniture, too. "What did I tell you?" he asks one day, after they have won another fight. "I told you I'd take care of you!"

Jin looks at his brothers, a small smile on his lips. "Wow, Yan, you're right. You're the reason we've won so many fights."

Cheung slaps Yan on the back, perhaps harder than he had to. Yan is wearing nicer jackets these days. "Maybe for the next fight, we'll just watch while you take care of the other guys?"

Yan grins as though it's funny. "Better watch out for my fists of fury!"

The brothers are starting to kind of hate Yan.

They do not buy fancy bread. They do not like any of the bread they have tried, so they might as well buy cheap bread.

The brothers discover basketball. They have seen people play it on the streets, but they are vaguely aware of the rules--only touch the ball with your hands, put in the basket. Thanks to their newfound free time and their television, they can now learn how to play properly.

There are hoops here and there around the neighborhood, so the brothers buy a ball and practice. Dribbling is no big deal, and eventually they get the hang of shooting the ball, too. When they play against each other, they have no real teams, since there are three of them. They switch off who is defending and is on offense, sometimes in the middle of a point. They don't have to say anything; a change of posture is all it takes, and the brother with the ball immediately knows to avoid the one who was on his team a moment ago, and to pass to the other brother as he goes in for a layup.

They see others playing three-on-three half-court games. The brothers try a game against some younger teenagers, and they get trounced. Cheung is a total ball-hog, Jin racks up more fouls than points, and Hu ends up mostly just watching the game from the court. The other team keeps talking about things like "double-dribbling" and "traveling." The brothers are only vaguely familiar with those phrases from the television, and the only thing they are sure about is that it always means they have to give up the ball.

It is strangely refreshing to be beaten so thoroughly at something. Even Jin admits it, after Cheung and Hu prevent him from beating up a smack-talking kid on the sideline. They are learning new skills, and while they have made progress on the basics, they have a long way to go.

The brothers have cell phones now, but they have nobody to call except each other, and they are always together anyway. Sometimes they talk on their phones anyway, but only in emoji. They want to know if their brothers will understand what they are trying to say. They always do.

They have a computer in their apartment, too, but they have no bothered with it much, since none of them know how to use it. They have more or less figured out their way around their phones, though, and Hu eventually discovers that he can look up instructions for how to use the computer on his phone. The videos they find are somewhat outdated and condescending, but the brothers persevere, if for not other reason than that it is easier to look up the rules of basketball on the computer than on their phones.

They play a lot of basketball between fights. It keeps them active and helps them work on their teamwork, while being something different than fighting.

They other thing they end up using their cell phones for is getting texts from Yan, usually about upcoming fights.

Hu is in the pit before a fight when Cheung nods past him, indicating some people in the crowd. "Hey, check those guys out."

Hu turns and is about to ask who Cheung means when he sees who it must be: a man and a woman, both bleached blond and wearing green military-style jackets. The brothers have met Russians before, and even fought a few, but these two are tall even for Russians. The man must be seven feet tall, and the woman, while not as tall, still stands above most of the crowd. They watch the fighters with intense expressions, their faces stony. Something about them seems familiar, but Hu does not think he has met them before.

The fight goes well. Their opponents are ruthless and underhanded, but it's nothing the brothers haven't seen before, and the Weis have them beat when it comes to technique. The fight is still not easy, but they win in the end. As Hu leans on Cheung and fights for breath, he looks into the audience to see the tall Russians. The woman nods in his direction before they turn and depart.

"Do you know who those were?" Cheung asks.

"They looked Russian," Hu says. He still has not been able to place where he has seen them before.

Cheung says, "Yeah, obviously they're Russian, but did you recognize them?" When Hu shakes his head, he looks at Jin.

"I was paying attention to the fight," Jin says.

"They're Jaeger pilots! They were on that show we watched, remember?"

Now Hu remembers. "Oh yeah! Their Jaeger has a big, chunky head."

"What did they want?" Jin asks.

Hu thinks about it. "Maybe they were looking for new moves they can use against the kaiju."

"Wouldn't that be something!" Cheung exclaims. "Maybe someday we'll be watching footage of a fight against a kaiju, and we'll see a move we recognize."

Jin smirks. "I'd love to see a kaiju get one of your kicks to the face!"

Hu says, "Their Jaeger was pretty heavy. I don't see it delivering any kicks."

"It'd still be pretty great," Jin says, and they leave it at that.

Less than a week later, some strangers visit the Weis' apartment. Hu answers the door and is surprised to see a Chinese officer in a blue PPDC uniform and a scientist in a shirt and tie that both bear the PPDC logo.

Hu regards the two warily through the open door, while Jin and Cheung arrive behind him to see who it is.

The officer smiles. "Looks like there's no need to ask if we're in the right place," she says. "Mind if we come in?"

Hu hesitates a moment, but he says, "Sure," and he steps aside. The officer and the scientist come in. The officer has a large manila envelope in one hand, and the scientist is carrying a bulky, heavy-looking briefcase. Jin raises his eyebrows at Hu as Hu closes the door, but Hu can only shrug back.

The officer continues. "I'm Commander Wong. This is Dr. Zhao. I'm sure you've heard of the PPDC."

"The Pan Pacific Defense Corps," Cheung replies. "Sure. You're the ones fighting the kaiju with giant robots."

Commander Wong smiles. "That's us. So, I'll get right to it. We're looking for pilots. Each Jaeger is piloted by two people, to share the neural load. In order for the connection to work, they have to have a deep bond. Have you heard of this?"

Jin says, "Yeah, it's called being drive compatible."

"That's drift compatible," Cheung says.

"Whatever, nerd," Jin huffs. Cheung slaps Jin's arm, so Jin slaps Cheung's arm.

As Cheung slaps Jin's arm again, Hu cuts in. "You said Jaegers only have two pilots?"

Commander Wong nods. "It is very rare for people to be drift compatible. Even people who have known each other all their lives, or people who care deeply about each other, may not have the right kind of connection. Most pilots are related by blood. You've probably heard of the Gage twins, who pilot Romeo Blue. But even with twins, it is very difficult to find the kind of bond necessary to pilot a Jaeger. Chances are that none of you will be drift compatible, but we are hoping that the fact that there are three of you will make it more likely that two of you might be."

Hu frowns. "So there's no chance that all three of us will be drift compatible?"

Commander Wong nods to her companion. "Dr. Zhao is an expert on the drift. I'll let them answer this."

Dr. Zhao says, "We have never found three people who are all drift compatible before. Theoretically, it should be possible."

"So what would that mean?" Jin asks, his forehead knitting. "Would two of us pilot a Jaeger at a time, while the third one sits on the sidelines?"

Dr. Zhao shifts nervously under Jin's intense glare. "Well, in the event that such an unlikely occurrence should be discovered and verified, it would open up some intriguing possibilities. There are some theories… speculation really… regarding what a three-pilot layout might look like."

"Three pilots!" Cheung exclaims, and his brothers look at him, smiling. "Those kaiju wouldn't stand a chance!"

Commander Wong smiles back. "So I take it you're interested?"

"Of course we're interested!" Cheung says, and Hu and Jin agree.

Hu looks at the briefcase resting on the ground by Dr. Zhao. "So how do we know if we're drift compatible?"

Dr. Zhao sees where Hu is looking. They lift the briefcase and carry it over to the table where the brothers eat their meals. They open the briefcase and remove some bundles of wires, which they plug into some ports built into the inside of the briefcase. The inside of the briefcase's lid has several small screens, which turn on to show the PPDC logo before resolving into various readouts. Dr. Zhao rolls out the wires, which end with two flexible skullcaps.

"We'll need to test you two at a time," Dr. Zhao says. "So, who's first?"

"Are you for real?" Jin asks. When Dr. Zhao stares blankly at him, Jin points at the machine. "That thing is going to tell us whether we can pilot a giant robot to fight giant monsters?"

Dr. Zhao starts to smile, then thinks better of it as Jin's face remains intense. "Yes? I mean, someone must pilot the Jaegers, right? And the three of you are clearly gifted fighters. You share a strong connection, and you fight well together."

Cheung looks worried, his eyebrows drawing together. "We're pit fighters. Is that the kind of people you want piloting your giant robot?"

Commander Wong raises her eyebrows. "You should see where we found Matador Fury's pilots. Honestly, if you're willing to take the risk and you're drift compatible, we'll take you."

Something has been bothering Hu. "Since you mentioned the risk, I have to ask: do we get a choice? I mean, do you need us to sign something saying that we understand that we agree to join your group, and we acknowledge the risks involved?" Jin scowls at Hu, as though annoyed he would even bring up something as mundane as a consent form when talking about giant robots and kaiju.

Commander Wong. "Up to and including getting killed by kaiju. Yes, there are forms. I won't lie to you: it's probably the most dangerous job in the world. But the reason we use Jaegers is that there is no better option. They're the only thing that has stopped a kaiju short of a nuclear attack, and if we drop a nuke on every kaiju that gets close to a city, we'll run out of cities before we run out of kaiju."

"We could move people away from coastal cities," Hu says.

Commander Wong sighs. "There is talk of that. Some people want to build massive walls along the coast, hoping they'll keep the kaiju out. I don't think any of those people have even seen a kaiju. Quite frankly, the idea is a waste of time and money at best, and a tragic distraction from the real fight at worst."

"Enough talking!" Jin says. "Let's get to it!" Cheung looks just as eager.

"Then here are your first forms of the day," Commander Wong says. "Just in case something goes wrong with the test."

Jin snorts and signs the form without even looking at it. Cheung skims it over and signs his, too. Hu starts to read his while his brothers are already getting hooked up to the machine.

"Let me know if anything is too tight or too loose," Dr. Zhao says, placing a cap on Jin's head, adjusting it, and doing the same to Cheung. "You will feel some warmth. That is normal. You may also feel some minor shocks. Try to relax. If you feel anything painful, or if your muscles seize up, or if you smell or taste anything unusual, please let me know immediately!"

Cheung nods, and Jin waves a hand in a "let's get on with it" motion. Dr. Zhao turns to the briefcase, taps a few keys on a miniature keypad, then presses a large button.

Hu watches, eyes wide, as Cheung and Jin both get the same intense look on their faces. The look is a combination of Cheung's Bruce Lee face from the pit and Jin's familiar glare. Dr. Zhao examines the readouts on the screens, occasionally tapping a key. After a few minutes, they press the button that they originally used to start the test, and they remove the skullcap from Jin's head.

"Let's test the two of you next," Dr. Zhao says, pointing at Cheung and indicating Hu with the skullcap.

"Wait, why them?" Jin demands. "Did Cheung do better?"

Dr. Zhao blanches under Jin's look. "It's not that kind of test. You were just sitting closer to me, so it was easier to take the cap from your head."

"It's fine," Cheung says, and he gives Jin a gentle but firm pat on the shoulder to get him to move aside. "Come on, Hu, let's go."

Hu sits down, feeling nervous. Cheung seems okay, even eager to get on with the next test, so it couldn't have been that bad. Hu hands his signed form, which listed all manner of unpleasant possibilities, to Dr. Zhao, who puts the skullcap on Hu's head. 

"Ready?" Dr. Zhao asks.

Hu nods, and Dr. Zhao starts the test. At first, Hu doesn't feel anything. Then the skull cap starts to feel warm. He feels a surge of confidence. He adjusts his posture on the chair, sitting up while also relaxing. He feels ready for anything.

When the test is over, Dr. Zhao turns off their machine, and Cheung and Jin switch spots. This time, when Dr. Zhao turns the machine on, Hu feels alert, wary for danger but prepared to face it. He leans forward in the chair, moving more of his weight to his feet.

Dr. Zhao finishes the test, takes back the skull caps, and starts to pack up. "The initial results are promising," they say.

"Promising?" Cheung asks. "Does that mean we're drift compatible?"

"You might be," Dr. Zhao says. "We'll need further tests to determine that conclusively."

"All right, hook us back up!" Cheung says. "Let's get started on round two!"

"We'll need to continue the tests in the lab at the Shatterdome," Dr. Zhao says.

Commander Wong takes out some laminated badges. "I have temporary passes here for you," she says. "You will receive permanent passes if you are accepted into the pilot program."

"When do you need us down at the Shatterdome?" Hu asks.

Commander Wong looks at Dr. Zhao, who says, "Next Monday?"

"Great!" Cheung says. "See you then!"

They say goodbye. When the PPDC employees have left, Cheung looks at his brothers and chuckles, shaking his head. "Giant robots. Well, why not?"

"What do you think a Jaeger piloted by three pilots would be like?" Hu asks.

Jin has apparently been thinking about it. "Well, it takes two pilots to control a Jaeger because they're so big, right? So I'm guessing that means that a Jaeger piloted by three people would be enormous!"

The brothers laugh, and they spend the rest of the evening talking about stomping kaiju flat, along with all the ridiculous escapades they could get into with a colossal Jaeger.


	3. Chapter 3

The next day, they go to see Mr. Li. Before they get to Mr. Li's office, they pass Yan in the hallway. He hurries to catch up to them, already sweating. "Hi there, how are my favorite fighters? Hey, today's not a fight day. What brings you down here?"

"We're quitting," Cheung says. The brothers do not slow down, and Yan pants as he tries to keep up.

Yan titters. "Oh, that's funny! But really…" he trails off when he sees the looks on their faces. "You know you can't leave! It won't go well for you. Did you get a better offer? Mr. Li is a dangerous man. He has some really scary guys working for him. We'll beat any other offer you got!"

The brothers ignore him. When they reach the office, Yan looks like he might cry. The two guards watching Mr. Li's door today are wearing hockey jerseys. One of them enters the office, while the other puts out a hand to stop them from entering.

Jin grabs the hand and flips the man onto the ground. The guard tries to pull his gun, but Hu kicks it away. Cheung balances on one foot and kicks the door right next to the doorknob. The doorframe splinters and the brothers throw the door open.

Inside, Mr. Li and the other guard look up, startled. The second guard goes for his gun, but Cheung is already vaulting over Mr. Li's desk. He smacks the guard's hands away  before drawing the gun from the man's waistband himself. "Thank you," Cheung says, smiling as he rejoins his brothers. Jin has dragged the first guard into the office and now shoves him toward his compatriot. They move to flank their boss, waiting to see what happens.

Mr. Li sits at his desk, fuming. He grates out, "So what's all this?"

Cheung lets the question hang in the air for a moment before answering. "We've decided to change careers paths. We've had enough of punching humans, and we decided we'd like to try punching giant monsters instead."

Mr. Li does not respond immediately. After studying them for a while, he finally says, "You're not kidding. You're going to join the giant robot people." He shakes his head, slowly, making eye contact with the brothers in turn. "You can't leave." He places both of his hands flat on the table. "I made you. I own you. Everything you have is thanks to me."

"And me," Yan quavers.

"Shut up, Yan," Mr. Li snarls. Yan goes silent with a yelp. Mr. Li points a finger at the brothers. "Just you try to leave. You'll be back in that pit before you know what hit you, and you mark my words, you'll never get back out."

"Don't you watch the news?" Cheung asks. "The kaiju are getting bigger, and they're going to keep coming. They need more pilots. Better pilots. If we join, we'll be protecting everyone in Hong Kong. Even you."

"You think you're so special?" Mr. Li scoffs. "They'll find someone else."

Jin steps forward. "You say you'll send guys after us, but what if we make sure that doesn't happen?"

Mr. Li measures him with his eyes. "You were always the tough guy, but I don't think you have it in you to kill someone in cold blood."

Jin's voice is quiet with restrained fury. "To earn our freedom? We can find out, right now."

The two guards glance nervously at Mr. Li while Yan whimpers. Hu gets between them and places a hand on Jin's chest. Jin looks at him in surprise, then steps back when he sees the determination on Hu's face. Hu turns to Mr. Li. "You don't get much out of stopping us. Maybe make an example out of it, but it wouldn't take long for people to ask why we tried to leave. Will you tell them that your fighters got too good, so they got called on to pilot a giant robot, and you didn't let them? Or, you could say that you let us leave. Tell everyone that your fighters are the ones in the robot. Tell them where we learned the moves."

"You think they want guys like you? They'll kick you out the moment they realize what you truly are."

Hu shrugs. "Maybe. We'll see." He gestures at the souvenirs on the shelves. "We'll send you a model of our robot to add to your collection."

Mr. Li grunts. He studies each of the brothers in turn, then looks at his wall of knicknacks. Finally, he takes a deep breath and blows it out. "Fine. Get out of here. But don't come crawling back to me when they toss you out."

Suddenly Hu just wants to be gone. His brothers seem to agree, as they all start toward the door at the same time.

Jin turns before leaving. "The food in your cafeteria is terrible."

Cheung knocks a snowglobe from the shelf before walking out. It gives a satisfying crash, and water and glitter slosh over the carpet.

Just before Hu shuts the door, he says, "And Duck Tales sucks."

He actually hasn't checked out the show yet, but Mr. Li does not know that, and it seemed like a cool thing to say.

* * *

The brothers move out of their apartment. Most of the furniture and appliances in the apartment belong to Yan or Mr. Li. Jin wants to smash them, but Cheung and Hu are ambivalent, so they settle for leaving the bed unmade and the dishes unwashed.

They show up at the Shatterdome with duffel bags full of clothes, the passes Commander Wong gave them, and not much else. The Shatterdome dominates the shore, where it dwarfs the warehouses and import businesses that surround it. The guards at the gate look like they are halfway through calling security when they see the passes, exchange a look, and wave the brothers through. As they walk into the immense building, they notice the guards staring after them.

The building is enormous, and one thing that surprises the brothers is how far they have to walk before they even feel like they are in the building proper. First they have to pass through various additional security gates and echoing corridors. They are directed to an elevator, which takes them down to a bustling hallway. Walking through the halls reminds them a bit of Mr. Li's building, only the ceilings are taller, the walls are thicker, and the people are dressed better.

They have to ask for directions a few times to find the quarters. The quartermaster, a stocky man with plastic-framed glasses, was not expecting them for a few more days. Nevertheless, he finds a room for them, and they move in.

"So you're the street fighters, huh?" he asks. "Well, I hope you don't mind that we only have pilot quarters meant for two people. We've never had three pilots for the same Jaeger before."

Their quarters are smaller than their apartment, but the brothers have never minded sharing a space. They unpack their bags and relax.

The Shatterdome cafeteria serves pretty good food. More importantly, it is healthy and there is a lot of it, so the brothers help themselves. The Shatterdome also has a gym and a sparring room, which the brothers begin to make use of. They need to pass the time before they get tested.

Hu is a little worried. That night, he asks, "What if we're not drift compatible? We can't exactly go back to Mr. Li now."

"Like we'd want to," Jin says.

Cheung says, "Don't worry. We're drift compatible. I know it."

The room has two beds, but the quartermaster supplies a cot. Hu ends up sleeping on the cot, between the beds his brothers use.

The next day, Hu returns to the market. It is strange to go by himself, but Jin wanted to work out some nerves in the gym, and Cheung was spending the day getting to know people in the Shatterdome. The market is fairly busy, so Hu strolls among the booths, looking for Auntie Sue. She is not in her usual place, but then, sometimes another booth will take her spot. The longer Hu looks, the more worried he starts to feel.

Maybe she is sick. Maybe she has the day off, though she never did before. Maybe something happened to her. He does not know, and as he thinks about it, he has no way of finding out.

It is a long walk back to the Shatterdome. He feels like he is at a precipice. His life is about to change profoundly, but he does not yet know how. It will all come down to the test to see whether they are drift compatible. Surely they must be, but the more he thinks about it, the less certain he becomes.

When he arrives back at the Shatterdome, he walks the halls in a daze. Was it a mistake to turn their backs on Mr. Li? Should he have talked his brothers into waiting until after the test? Or would that have meant he wasn't confident in his brothers? Are the brothers up to the challenge of facing kaiju? What would come next?

A voice asks, "Hello there! What brings you this way?"

Hu looks up to see Dr. Zhao looking carefully at him out of an office doorway, their face friendly but a little concerned. Without knowing where he was going, Hu has ended up by the doctor's office. "Just stretching my legs," he says.

"You look like someone with a lot on his mind. Is there anything I can help with?"

Normally Hu prefers to talk to his brothers, but he realizes there is indeed something he would like to talk to Dr. Zhao about. "Can we talk in your office?" Hu asks.

"Sure," they say. After Hu closes the door behind him, Dr. Zhao says, "People from all over end up in the Shatterdome. No matter where you're from, this place is unlike anywhere you've ever been. It takes some time to get used to." That is not what Hu wants to talk about right now, but it is still somewhat comforting. "So, what's troubling you?"

"I've been thinking about drift compatibility," Hu says. The thing that has been bothering him starts to take form in his mind. "My brothers and I have always done everything together. We relied on each other, supported each other, and fought beside each other." He pauses. Dr. Zhao looks sympathetic, but Hu finds it easier to look at their desk instead. "But we had no choice in any of that. We did it all together because we had to. I mean, I owe my brothers a lot--I owe them my life, I know I do--but sometimes I feel like we're not really friends. A friend is someone you choose to be with, but with my brothers and I, we never had a choice."

Dr. Zhao nods, their face serious with thought. "How do you feel about your brothers?"

"I don't know. I mean, Cheung is a great guy, everyone loves him, but I feel like he sees the world differently. He thinks of things in these grand ways, and I don't see that. And Jin…" He shakes his head. "Jin's ready to fight anything at any time. Sometimes I think he doesn't even care what he's fighting, as long as he has something to fight. He's on my side, but even so, sometimes he scares me." Hu's stomach has started hurting while he talked. It feels wrong to talk about his brothers this way. He is so used to having them nearby that he has to remind himself that they can't hear what he is saying. They are in other parts of the building, and the walls and doors of the Shatterdome are thick. "I love them, but sometimes I don't know if I really like them."

They sit together in silence for long moments. Hu keeps his eyes down, so he does not know if Dr. Zhao is thinking, or if they are just giving Hu some time to recover after all that.

Finally, Dr. Zhao asks, "Do you trust them?"

Hu doesn't hesitate. He looks up and meets Dr. Zhao's eyes. "Yes, I do."

Dr. Zhao nods. "Good. That is the most important thing for drift compatibility. There are other factors, of course: how well the pilots know each other, how they get along, how they see the world. But those things all feed back into trust."

Hu feels a profound sense of relief. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it. Now, I recommend you go to the gym. It would do you good to move around a bit."

Hu follow Dr. Zhao's advice, and that night, he goes to sleep feeling a lot better.

When the time for the test arrives, the brothers are taken to a lab and hooked up to a machine that looks like a much larger, less portable version of the machine Dr. Zhao brought to their apartment. This time, there are several technicians and scientists who assist Dr. Zhao as they set everything up. The brothers go two at a time, and Dr. Zhao adds that, if the tests show that they are drift compatible, their team will start working in earnest on three-person drifting.

This time, Hu's experience of being linked to his brothers is much stronger. More than just feelings, now he is drawn into memories. When he drifts with Cheung, he is a young Cheung slipping his brothers extra food when they are not looking; then an even younger Cheung watching their father try and fail to program the TV, both of them laughing the whole time; then Cheung kissing Ying in a stairwell--when did that happen? When he drifts with Jin, he is a teenage Jin standing guard over an ill and half-conscious Hu--himself, he remembers distantly--while Cheung is off trying to find something to help their injured brother, whose broken arm has taken a turn for the worse; then playing a game they had made up with his brothers when they found a grungy, half-deflated soccer ball; then a very young Jin sneaking out of bed to steal a cookie and getting caught by their mother, who gives him a cookie anyway.

The brothers pass the test easily.

As they are getting up to go, Dr. Zhao calls Hu back. When everyone else has left, Dr. Zhao says, "Would you like to know which of you were the most drift compatible?"

Hu has been thinking about it. "Cheung and Jin are stronger than I am. They've always carried the fights, so I am sure they are the most drift compatible."

Dr. Zhao smiles patiently and shakes their head. "Your brothers are drift compatible with each other, but both of them are more drift compatible with you. Don't sell yourself short."

That gives Hu something to think about.

Now that they are confirmed to be drift compatible, the brothers are made official members of the PPDC, with all that entails. First, there is a lot of paperwork to be signed. Commander Wong shows up for some of it, and she congratulates them and welcomes them aboard. They are given a variety of uniforms from dress uniforms to PPDC-branded workout gear.

At Mr. Li's compound, medics has occasionally patched them up after fights, but this is the first time they go to a real doctor since they were kids. They are in surprisingly good shape overall, though their teeth are another matter. They all need to have cavities filled and root canals. Hu ends up with the worst news: they will need to re-break his arm so that it can heal again, properly this time. It is much less painful this time, as Hu is given anesthetic, but he is not looking forward to several more months of recovery before he can start training.

At least his brothers join him in having weeks' worth of dental work scheduled. It is during one of their visits to the Shatterdome dentist that they meet a new face. A young woman about their age approaches them with a wide smile. She wears blue wire-rimmed glasses and has her brown-dyed hair tied back in a ponytail.

"Hi there!" she says, speaking Chinese with an American accent. She shakes hands with each of them in turn, gripping their hands tightly and pumping them up and down with a mock-serious frown. "I'm Kathy Chen. I'll be your liaison with the government. As I'm sure you've heard, you're going to be the faces of the Chinese Jaeger program. Exciting!"

The brothers haven't heard, actually, and they exchange a look. "Okay," Cheung says. "So what does that mean, exactly?"

Kathy grins, showing a huge amount of perfect teeth. "You're going to attend events, give interviews, and show people what it's like to be Jaeger pilots."

Jin scowls. "Why?"

Kathy laughs, and the sound is so natural that it has to be practiced. "Because people can't get enough of Jaeger pilots! Piloting giant robots, fighting giant monsters, it's all just so fascinating. You're our best chance of stopping the kaiju. All our hopes ride with you." She pauses. Hu glances at his brothers. They can all tell there is more to come, so they wait, and after a moment she continues. "The PPDC depends on public support. As long as the member nations continue to fund the program, the PPDC can keep doing what it does best: protecting the world. So it's up to us to make sure that the public sees the good work that the Jaeger program is doing."

Cheung places a hand to his forehead, trying to keep up. "The PPDC is protecting the world from alien invaders. It is literally the only thing stopping the kaiju from rampaging through our cities. I just can't imagine people turning against it, no matter what, since the alternative is death."

Kathy gives an eloquent, one-shouldered shrug. "I agree with you, but there are some who are trying to suggest alternatives. Traditional military options are still popular with some other options that have been discussed, like researching biological weapons or even building a giant wall."

Cheung grimaces. "Commander Wong mentioned that when we first met her. Do people really think they can build a wall around the coast of the entire Pacific Ocean?"

"If people feel like the Jaeger program is not working, research shows that they will be desperate enough to attempt even infeasible solutions."

Hu says, "So we have to make the PPDC look good."

"It won't be hard," Kathy says. "You three have an innate charisma. I'll be there to help you along the way."

Hu feels like he needs to point out the obvious. "But we've never fought a kaiju. We haven't even piloted a Jaeger before. There must be other pilots who would be better for this."

Kathy shakes her head. "We've done extensive testing, and we believe that you're just what we need." She raises a hand as all three brothers start to say something. "I'm asking you to trust me on this. The PPDC needs you, and your government needs you. China needs to show how we are contributing to the fight. There has never been a Jaeger with three pilots before. When our scientists figure out a way to link the three of you together, China will have made a major advance in drift technology. It will show the quality of Chinese science and engineering."

Jin's face is grim. "You mean propaganda."

Kathy meets his eyes without flinching, and Hu gets the sense that there is more to this woman than he had first assumed. "Look," she says, "it's going to take some time to get you in a Jaeger. On top of that, we have to wait for his arm to heal." She indicates Hu, who looks down in embarrassment. "You can spend that time sitting around, or you can be useful. I know what I would choose."

Jin looks impressed. "All right."

Cheung nods. "We're in."

Kathy waits for Hu, so he nods, too. Kathy looks satisfied. "Good." She waves a hand, indicating the dentist's office. "We'll start with your teeth. We'll get them straight and shining. You two," she points at Hu and Jin, "will need implants. But don't worry: by the time you're through, you'll look like movie stars!"

Jin scoffs, but there is less disdain in his voice than before. He is starting to trust Kathy. "Movie stars?"

Kathy gives him a quick smile. She points at Jin's crooked nose. "We'll do something about this," and she indicates some of their more prominent scars, "and these. We'll leave a few scars for character."

Cheung sums up the brothers' reactions when he replies, "What?"

Kathy grins. "I'll tell you what. I'll let you pick which ones you keep. How's that?"

The brothers have heard of plastic surgery before, but it turns out to be different from what they had imagined. Not that Hu had spent much time thinking about it, but he had sort of pictured pieces of hard plastic, shaped like idealized facial features, that doctors would somehow implant under a person's skin. It turns out to be much closer to regular surgery, with the doctors mostly cutting things open and closing them back up again. Jin does need some reconstructive work on his nose, and the teeth implants look pretty intimidating, but the brothers face it all with resolute acceptance.

True to her word, Kathy lets them pick which scars to keep, and they mostly pick fairly small scars, to make her job easier. Jin keeps one thick, gnarled scar that goes over his right shoulder and partway down his back from a fight with a thug with a broken bottle when they were living on the street. Hu does not have any scars that cool, so he picks a small white scar beside his right eyebrow. He is going to have a scar from his rebroken arm, and he decides that he will keep that, too, though he is prepared to have its appearance reduced as much as Kathy feels fit. Cheung keeps a couple of straight scars on his chest, back, and abs, and a semicircular one on his neck. Unsurprisingly, they all make him look badass.

The next step is their new look, or, as Kathy insists on calling it, "makeovers." The first thing they do is get their hair buzzed short to match Cheung's. "It's easier than waiting for your hair to reach Jin's in length," Kathy explains, laughing, "and it looks good too."

It takes Jin some time to get used to the change. For a few days, he keeps trying to hide his face behind hair he no longer has. He starts wearing his PPDC-issued hoodie more often as a compromise.

They are eating breakfast together in the mess hall a few days later when Hu says, "The weirdest thing about these changes is that now--"

Jin joins in, and they finish together: "--we all look like Cheung!"

Cheung just takes a bite of his toast and grins. "It's an improvement!"

Hu's arm is still in a cast, and will be for a while, and Jin is the one whose face is always half-hidden by the hood of his hoodie, so they are still easy for others to tell apart.

Even with no Jaeger to pilot, their schedules are packed. They attend classes where they learn Jaeger fighting techniques, kaiju biology, engineering, mechanics, and even some psychology to help with the drift. The other pilots come from a variety of backgrounds, from a married couple who owned a bookstore, to sisters who taught ballet, to friends who met online thanks to their shared love of orchids, and many others. Cheung seems to already know them all, so he introduces Hu and Jin. Hu worries that the other pilots will resent them for being chosen to represent the PPDC without actually having fought a kaiju yet, but he is surprised to find that the other pilots are welcoming and encouraging. They are all in this together.

The PPDC has a simulator where pilots can practice drifting and taking on virtual kaiju. It is built to resemble a standard Jaeger Conn-Pod, so there is a physical component where the pilots' drivesuits are attached to a rig that allows the pilots' motions to be transferred to the Jaeger. Hu knows he will have to sit out this part of the program for now, which is just as well, because the simulator room only accommodates two pilots. Nevertheless, the J-Tech technicians allow Hu to be in the Conn-Pod while his brothers go on simulator runs, to get used to being there with them and to give them encouragement.

Cheung and Jin do fairly well in the simulators. They complain a bit about how clunky and slow the virtual Jaeger is, but they beat the kaiju almost every time. When they see their scores ranked against the other pilots, they are somewhat perturbed to see that their scores are in the upper middle range.

"I thought our fighting experience would give us more of an advantage than that," Cheung grumbles, and his brothers agree.

"Don't be disappointed," Commander Wong explains. "You're among the best the world has to offer, and you're still doing better than some."

"We'll get even better," Jin says. Cheung and Hu nod, resolute.

They also have a schedule of physical training. While Hu's arm remains broken, he either watches or gets in extra hours of studying while Jin and Cheung spar to work on their bond. The brothers already excel at sparring, but they practice anyway. "When you're up against a kaiju," their instructor says, "you'll need every advantage you can get, no matter how small."

They also work out to strengthen their bodies and learn fighting styles from specialist instructors. Hu follows along as best he can, making sure not to jostle his arm too much. The professional cast on his arm is so much better than the splint he and his brothers had managed years ago that he has a tendency to try to push himself, but his brothers and instructors make sure he does not take it too far.

Kathy meets with them regularly to prepare them for interviews. It turns out that interviews on talk shows are very different from news shows, which are different from podcasts. Kathy practices with them, playing the role of the presenter. The sessions go fairly well, though Hu worries things will feel very different when they are interviewed for real.

The Shatterdome did not have a basketball hoop when the brothers arrived, but Cheung somehow manages to arrange for one to be added, and in the main Jaeger bay no less. Since there is room there where their Jaeger will be, they use part of that space for a half-court. Hu has to sit on the sidelines, so Cheung and Jin play against the other pilots, as well as various teams of engineers, techs, and even scientists.

These games are much closer than the ones the brothers played on the street courts, except for when they play the former booksellers, who wipe the floor with everyone. "We used to play in high school and college," one of them explains, high-fiving his husband after a no-look pass and an easy layup.

"I knew we were missing something by not going to college," Cheung says with a pretend sigh. "Or high school."

"Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to--"

"Ignore him," Jin says, "he's just hoping to earn your sympathy so you take it easy on us!"

As Hu's arm heals, he has time to talk to some of the scientists working on figuring out the secret to achieving a three-person drift. He uses his free time to learn some of the fundamental science behind drifting, and he talks to the scientists about the challenges they are facing. Hu does not seriously think he can contribute much, but it keeps him from worrying about the training and conditioning he is missing out on.

The day finally arrives for Hu to get his cast off. They have their first interview scheduled on that day. When Hu sees how pale and skinny his arm looks after being in a cast for so long, he is eager to hit the gym, which combines with his nerves about appearing on a national news program to make him restless and fidgety.

As the brothers and Kathy meet the hosts and discuss the upcoming segment, Jin is visibly annoyed at Hu for being unable to sit still. They start the interview, and Hu is so distracted that he misses a few beats, which in turn distracts Jin, so he starts missing beats, too.

Luckily, the interview is not live, so they stop taping and give Kathy a chance to talk to the brothers.

"Look at Cheung," she says. "He looks like an old hand at all this. Just remember what I taught you, and don't overthink it. And Hu, come on, do you need to use the bathroom, or walk around a bit, or something? You're making me nervous, and I'm not even in the interview."

"Sorry," Hu says. "Look, can't we reschedule? I'll be ready tomorrow, I think."

Jin makes a face. "Let's just get this over with! We're here, we're dressed up, we've got makeup on, let's go."

Cheung kneels in front of Hu and puts a hand on his shoulder. "Hey. What do you need? How can we make this work?"

Hu takes a deep breath and releases it. "It's okay. I'm just feeling worked up. I can do this. Jin is right, let's go." Even as he says it, his knee bounces up and down. Cheung glances at Hu's knee, which stops bouncing. Hu gives a rueful smile. "I'm not good at this stuff, like you are."

Cheung thinks for a moment. "I've got the next best thing." He runs a hand over the top of Hu's head, where his hair is shorn. Cheung looks at Jin, then back at Hu. "You guys were saying that you look like me now, right? So just pretend you're me! Ask yourself, how would Cheung handle that question? And then you've got it!"

Hu laughs, shaking his head at the suggestion. Jin smiles, too. Hu says, "I don't know if that'll work."

"I'm not saying you'll be as charming as I am," Cheung says with a sly look, "but you're bound to do better than you've been doing so far!"

"All right, let's give it a shot," Hu says. He does his best to put himself into the champion mindset he imagines Cheung having. He thinks back to how it felt to share mindspace with Cheung when they drifted.

Kathy gives them all encouraging smiles. "You're going to do great!"

They don't exactly do great, but they do get through the interview. Hu does his best to answer questions as Cheung would. Even though he's convinced that Cheung would be able to think of better ways to phrase things, Hu at least tries to mimic Cheung's confident tone of voice. He figures that, if he can't think of actually charming things to say, at least he can deliver his answers as though they were charming.

If the hosts notice the difference, they don't show it.

Jin does not say much, but when he does, he sticks to things he feels: he is eager to face the kaiju, and he will do whatever he takes to get ready.

Cheung not only gives perfect answers to the questions he's asked, he often goes farther by providing interesting anecdotes or explaining a personal philosophy. Hu is a little surprised to hear how much thought Cheung has put into topics like what the PPDC represents and how China is working alongside the rest of the world to protect humanity.

All in all, not bad for their first interview.

Immediately afterward, Hu insists on playing some basketball with his brothers. His brothers completely outplay him, of course, but it feels good. He even tries to hit the gym to lift some weights afterward, but Jin and Cheung talk him out of it. Kathy offered to buy them dinner to celebrate their interview, so the brothers take her up on it.

"You guys remind me a bit of a boy band," Kathy says as they finish up the meal. "Cheung, you'd be the likable leader. Hu, you're the quiet, deep one. And Jin, you're the brooding bad boy."

Cheung grins, but Jin scowls. Their reactions align so perfectly with Kathy's characterization of them that Hu cracks up, nearly knocking over his drink. Seeing Hu in hysterics, his brothers can't help but laugh, too, and Kathy joins in. Maybe this whole spokesperson thing won't be so bad.

By the time dinner is over, Hu is feeling all of the events of the day catching up to him. He does some reading before bed, but falls asleep before too long.

The next morning offers a dilemma. While his arm was in a cast, he had wanted to do everything. Now that he can do things again, he is unsure where to begin.

He looks from his stack of books to the weights the brothers keep in the room to the schedule for the Jaeger simulator to the notes Kathy gave them to prep for their next interview.

Luckily, Jin and Cheung are there to help him out. When Cheung sees that Hu has been vacillating for a good five minutes, he shoves him toward the door. "How about you wash up, get dressed, and have some breakfast."

"...you idiot," Jin adds, with a fond smile.

After breakfast, Hu hits the gym for some weight training. He picks his weights, but Jin and Cheung shake their heads, put the weights back, and take much lighter weights. At first Hu is offended, but even those weights prove to be a challenge, and Hu realizes again how much of a journey the recovery is going to be.

Hu looks over Kathy's notes before lunch, then joins his brothers in the mess hall. That afternoon, they attend a presentation on how to keep kaiju blue contamination to a minimum after a fight. The brothers have seen similar talks, but this one feels more relevant now to Hu, as he is one step closer to piloting a Jaeger.

Hu finally gets to try the simulator that evening with Jin. The techs put them up against a weaker kaiju, Karloff, whom Jin has beaten a few times already. The drift still feels strange to Hu, who almost gets hung up on a memory of a newly-homeless Jin finding a bottle of bourbon with a little still left in the bottom and being torn whether to share with his brothers. Hu has no memory of the bottle, so Jin must have kept it to himself. Without meaning to, Hu tries to watch the memory to its conclusion, but the techs warn him about "chasing the RABIT." With an effort, he brings himself back to the present.

Jin takes the lead, and Hu is surprised at how awkward it feels to control the Jaeger. As they walk through a virtual city, Hu feels like he could be moving much faster in the rig, but the Jaeger would not be able to keep up. The readouts on the console and their HUD remind him that it is vital to remain synced with the Jaeger and each other.

The brothers meet up with the simulated Karloff. "Here comes the good part!" Jin crows as the brothers move to intercept the kaiju. The beast turns to face them and they start exchanging blows. The simulator rocks and jolts in sync with the impacts.

Hu's frustration starts to mount as the Jaeger reacts sluggishly to their movements, thousands of tons of steel lagging behind the reactions of two youthful fighters.

Hu tries to fend off an incoming attack, but the robot's arm is too slow and the simulator reels to approximate the staggering Jaeger. "Don't try to block so much!" Jin yells. "And don't back up, either, or it's just that much harder to close the distance again!"

"So, what, we're just supposed to take the hits?" Hu snaps back, his voice rising in frustration.

"Block the ones you can, but it's more important to press the attack! The Jaeger may be slow, but it's strong. Fight its way!"

Hu exhales through his nose and sets his mouth in a resolute line. The simulator bucks and warning lights go on to show the damage they are taking, but he concentrates on throwing punches. He feels like a heavyweight prizefighter, all muscle and no finesse, but the screens show the Jaeger's fists smashing into the kaiju, and it falls back against a building.

"Now we've got it!" Jin shouts.

It feels brutally straightforward, but they stomp forward (Hu can't help but think of it as wading forward) and pummel the kaiju until it stops moving. The simulation ends, and their score is displayed, along with statistics on the damage to the city, damage to the Jaeger, injuries sustained to the pilots, and kaiju blue contamination.

"How did we do?" Hu asks, a bit shaky as the adrenaline wears off. His arm is starting to hurt, or perhaps he is becoming aware that it has been hurting for a while. The rig put quite a bit of strain on it.

Jin glances over their scores. "We did pretty well! Not bad, for your first time."

Techs start to uncouple them from the rig and take off their drivesuits. Hu asks, "Better than when you and Cheung did your first simulation?" 

"It's not a competition," Jin says. "And remember that you had me along, and I've done a bunch of these already." Once he is free of his drivesuit, he walks over to Hu and claps him on the back. "But yeah, we did better!"

In the coming weeks, Hu does simulator exercises with Cheung and Jin. He learns a lot each time, and they quickly move up to fighting the bigger, more dangerous kaiju. Cheung and Jin already know how to defeat many of them from previous simulations, but there are a few that are new, so they have to think on their feet, adapt to the kaiju's strengths and weaknesses, and devise a strategy to win with the least possible damage to the city and its virtual inhabitants.

Their days preparing to pilot Jaegers are interspersed with more interviews and appearances. Some of the first appearances are rough, with the brothers admitting to feeling guilty about not having actually faced a kaiju yet. Jin also reveals a habit of giving shockingly honest answers to questions about their past, which Kathy tries to dissuade him from.

"What?" he grumbles after one host has to stammer for an unscheduled commercial break following Jin's lurid description of an injury. "He asked!"

Kathy's answer does not have her usual chipper delivery, which is how the brothers know this is serious. "If someone asks about that sort of thing, you don't have to describe it in detail."

"I'm supposed to answer the question, right?" Jin asks.

"Of course, but don't focus painting a picture of on what happened. Describe how it felt."

Jin is silent for a moment, thinking that over. Finally, he says, "Oh. Okay, I'll give that a shot."

Their interviews improve from there, though Jin defaults to silence if he is not sure how to answer a question. Kathy has to admit that is probably for the best, after Jin tells the story of the time he popped his own dislocated shoulder back into place, before remembering her advice and adding, "It felt gross."

Perhaps the most encouraging thing is that the scientists are making progress on figuring out how to do a three-person drift. Dr. Zhao explains the latest breakthrough: creating room in the shared brainspace of the pilots for ideas that do not originate with any single pilot, but rather arise as part of their interaction. The scientist explains that this should help with some of the problems their earlier models had with synchronizing three brains, though there are some remaining synchronization issues to work out.

There is also an issue with overlap. With two pilots, each pilot uses one hemisphere of their brain. With three, it is less clear how the control should be portioned out. The scientists continue to work on the outstanding issues while the brothers train.

The brothers feel hopeful. They are getting stronger, they are learning more about Jaegers and kaiju, their simulator scores are improving, and they are getting better at basketball.

But the feeling in the Shatterdome is not always joyful.

The kaiju encounters are becoming more frequent. Someone has installed a huge clock in the main bay to count the time since the last incursion. Everyone gathers to watch each fight, whether the Hong Kong Shatterdome is involved or not. When a Jaeger is destroyed, the room is silent. People set up informal shrines to the fallen pilots, even those they have never met. The Weis have heard there are similar shrines at other Shatterdomes that include Hong Kong pilots. They wonder if they will ever have shrines of their own.

When the pilots who met on an online forum are crushed inside their Conn-Pod by a kaiju named Tannhauser, their shrine is the most beautiful one in the Shatterdome.

New pilots have arrived in the time the brothers have been at the Shatterdome, and the new arrivals look to the brothers for advice. The brothers help as best they can, especially Hu, who tutors them and even sets up a weekly study group. Hu can't help but feel ashamed when he doesn't have any hands-on advice to give the new pilots. It is even harder when the new pilots are assigned Jaegers of their own, when the Weis still do not have one.

Hu has finished learning the engineering skills required to be a pilot, but he keeps studying on his own. He is used to teaching himself skills from books, and so he only shrugs when the engineers he speaks to are surprised at his level of knowledge.

His brothers are as frustrated as Hu with the situation. They just want to get into a Jaeger already. Cheung asks if they can just pilot a regular Jaeger while they wait for the three-person tech to be ready, but they are turned down by several people. Commander Wong thinks the brothers are too valuable to gamble in a fight where they are not at their full potential, while Kathy warns them about the let-down this would cause to their audience. Jin has a few choice words about their audience, but at least he apologizes afterward.

It takes some doing, but Hu convinces the scientists to let the brothers try a three-person drift with a prototype Pons system based on the current state of the research. It is risky, but the scientists finally agree to try it. It should at least give them some useful data to use in their future research.

Dr. Zhao and their team hook the brothers up to the device. Commander Wong watches, shaking her head, while Kathy paces, stops herself, and paces some more.

"We're ready when you are," Dr. Zhao says. "If you're having second thoughts, we don't need to do this."

Cheung makes eye contact with Jin, then with Hu. He turns to Dr. Zhao. "We're ready."

The drift is unlike anything they have experienced before. It is chaotic, fragmented, and overwhelming. Hu gets impressions of hunger, resignation, hope, desperation, love, anger, and triumph, but the images come too quickly to make any sense of them. When the experience ends, he finds himself leaning on the edge of a table, drenched in sweat and out of breath. He looks at his brothers, who do not look much better.

Jin takes a step toward the displays, lurches, and has to sit down on the floor. "What happened?"

Dr. Zhao reads the results of the test. "Your minds are too out of synch."

Cheung furrows his forehead. "I thought we were all drift compatible."

"You are. Trust me, if any other three people tried this, they'd be lucky if they only ended up in the hospital. Forming a connection between three minds is much more complicated than forming a connection between two. With two pilots, we can have one dominant and one supporting mind. Any discrepancies between the two are subsumed by the dominant mind. With three minds, we cannot form as much of a hierarchy without compromising their autonomy."

Jin sinks back until he is lying down and bangs his head against the floor. "Ugh! I just want to fight kaiju!"

Hu supports himself against the table as he walks over to peer at the displays. It takes a moment for them to come into focus, and even when they do, there is a lot that he cannot make sense of. "Can you print this out for me?"

Dr. Zhao nods. "Of course. If you think of anything you think might help, please share it."

"I will," Hu says.

The three brothers support each other as they walk from the lab, with Cheung and Jin leaning on Hu while also holding him up. The effect wears off little by little, and by the time they reach their room, they just feel exhausted. Hu tries reading the reports for a bit while his brothers sleep, but he is too tired.

He wakes before his brothers, pours himself some water, and he goes right for the reports. By the time his brothers wake, he is starting to formulate an idea.

"I think I may have a way to make this work!" Hu tells them. Then his stomach gurgles.

"Dinner first," Cheung says. "Then you can solve the issue that the base scientists have been trying to figure out this whole time." He says it half-smiling, but Hu can tell that he looks hopeful.

They go to the mess hall, get their trays, and get in line for food. As they wait, Hu spots Dr. Zhao eating with some of their colleagues. Hu loads his tray with meatloaf, mashed potatoes, steamed vegetables, and some jelly for dessert. Shatterdomes tend to have the same food, delivered in plain, PPDC-branded pouches. Hu takes his tray over to Dr. Zhao's table.

"Mind if I join you?"

The people at the table make room, and Hu sits down. Dr. Zhao regards Hu. "How are you feeling? That drift must have been an ordeal."

"I'm feeling better now, thanks," Hu says. He starts to eat. After a few bites, he says, "I read over the results of the test."

"Oh?" Dr. Zhao raises their eyebrows. "Don't tell me you've already come up with a theory after only a few hours?"

The others at the table lean toward Hu, those at the back sitting up to get a better look. Hu starts to feel self-conscious. He considers having this conversation later, only with Dr. Zhao, but his eagerness to move forward overcomes his shyness. He says, "It's something I've been thinking about for a while, actually. I think that the results back up my idea."

Dr. Zhao chews thoughtfully. "Let's hear it."

"So, the way I understand it, there are two obstacles preventing three people from drifting," Hu says. "First, it is hard to synchronize three brains. Second, the work of the linked brains cannot be easily divided, as it can when there are two brains. Is that about right?"

"It's a bit of a simplification, but yes, overall, it's accurate."

Hu is starting to sweat a bit. What if his idea is wrong? He looks over and sees his brothers sitting at a nearby table, and they are obviously listening in. He would hate to get their hopes up, as well as his own, only to have them crushed. But it would be worse not to try. "I think that both problems may have the same solution."

The scientists and engineers at the table jostle for a moment to get a better view, and there is some excited whispering. Dr. Zhao gives their colleagues a sharp look and they go quiet. "What's your idea?"

Hu looks down at his tray. He takes a slice of meatloaf and scores a line down its center with his fork. "Say this is the brain. Left hemisphere, right hemisphere. Normally, one pilot contributes their right hemisphere while the other pilot contributes their left." He covers one half of the meatloaf with mashed potatoes and the other with vegetables. "With three people though, there is no easy way to split it up." He scrapes some of the vegetables and potatoes off the meatloaf and spoons some jelly in their place. The jelly slides around a bit, and runs into some of vegetables. "Plus, now they're all more out of sync." Hu shakes the tray a bit. The mashed potatoes wobble a bit. The jelly wiggles a lot. A couple of vegetables roll, but for the most part, they stay where they are. Some of the people further away stand up and walk closer to see. Cheung and Jin come over, too. Hu takes a deep breath, unsure about all the attention, but he continues. "So what if, instead of all that…." He scrapes the jelly, mashed potatoes, and steamed vegetables off the meatloaf. They have all mixed together by this point, along with the top layer of meatloaf. "Pretend they're all still separate," he says, trying his best to separate them, without much success.

Jin hands Hu his own tray, where his half-eaten food has remained mercifully unmixed. "You're doing great," Cheung says, laying a hand on Hu's shoulder.

Someone at one of the other tables calls out, "Wait! What does the new meatloaf represent?"

"It's still the brain," Dr. Zhao replies. "Try to keep up!" They turn to Hu. "Please, continue."

Hu continues, "What if, instead of all that, we do this?" He spreads the jelly over the entire slice of meatloaf, then covers half the meatloaf with mashed potatoes, and the other half with steamed vegetables.

Dr. Zhao frowns. "If the same people try to share the same brain functions, the synchronization issues will get worse."

Hu gestures at his tray. "That's why the mashed potatoes and steamed vegetables are covering up the jelly on the meatloaf. As the third pilot, my role would be to support my brothers. Their decisions would be the ones piloting the Jaeger."

"So you've already decided that you're going to be the one in this position?" Dr. Zhao asks. "I'd want to determine that with tests."

Hu gestures. "Run tests if you want, but that's the way it's going to turn out." He looks at his brothers, who nod. It does not occur to any of them to treat the supporting role as less important.

One of the other scientists, a young man with a plaid bowtie, raises his hand. Everyone looks at him. He stammers, "Then what's the point? If two of the pilots are doing all of the piloting, wouldn't it be the same as a normal drift setup?" Hu can see his brothers in his peripheral vision glaring at the scientist, and he thinks he is glaring, too. The scientist's voice grows quieter as he says, "It would be a shame to waste the only group of three drift compatible pilots."

Hu hesitates, but Dr. Zhao jumps in. "No, the third person would be a major factor in the overall drift. We often say that the stronger the connection between pilots, the better they fight, and in this case, the third pilot would help the other two achieve a stronger connection, allowing them to concentrate on the fight. It will take a huge amount of trust on the parts of all three, but I think we've already seen that the Weis can achieve that." They are starting to get excited now. "Moreover, by ensuring that the drift remains stable, the third pilot would open up the possibility of more extreme maneuvers on the part of the Jaeger. It's a question we've been grappling with for years: because the Jaeger's movements are tied to the movements of the pilots, the Jaeger's range of motion must remain close to a human's range of motion. But if we add the stabilizing force of the third pilot, the Jaeger could conceivably do moves that no human being could achieve! The pilots could enter the inputs while staying synchronized with each other and the Jaeger. It's brilliant!"

Hu sits back, stunned at the possibilities. That part had not even occurred to him. Jin hits Hu's shoulder with his fist. "This is going to be awesome!"

Dr. Zhao shakes their head, smiling. "I feel like we're really standing on the edge of something, here." They look at their team, who are beaming at each other. "I suspect we're going to be clocking some overtime tonight. But you three," and they point to the brothers, "finish eating dinner, and get some sleep. We'll keep you posted! Just wait, we'll have a Jaeger for you yet."

Despite Dr. Zhao's recommendation, the brothers have a hard time falling asleep that night. They lie awake in their dark room, talking about Jaegers, kaiju, and three orphan brothers from Hong Kong.

They spend a lot of time in the next few weeks with Kathy. The scientists have started designing their Jaeger, and the engineers have begun to assemble its basic components, but it seems like the team that has been the most busy is Kathy's group of brand designers and market researchers. She shows them logos, color schemes, and proposed names. They have even come up with a name for the Jaeger's signature move: the Thundercloud Formation.

Jin grimaces. "But we don't even know what the signature move is going to be yet!"

Kathy shrugs. "It doesn't matter. Focus groups had an overwhelmingly positive response to that name. They found it," she checks her notes, "heroic, powerful, triumphant, and confidence-inspiring."

Jin is not convinced. "But what if the move doesn't look like a thundercloud?"

Kathy laughs quickly. "What does a thundercloud look like? Clouds can be anything!"

"And besides," Cheung adds, "Don't you think ‘Thundercloud Formation' sounds awesome?"

Jin has to admit that it sounds kind of awesome.

Now that the Jaeger is being built and the scientists are making daily breakthroughs in three-person drifting, the brothers feel energized, but they also start to realize that there are only so many times they can run the simulator missions or rewatch old footage of Jaeger missions before they start to get anxious. As a result, they spend a lot of the next few months playing basketball.

When nobody else in the Shatterdome can beat them at basketball, they start traveling to street courts nearby to play the teams there. The competition is certainly stronger, though the brothers are surprised at how much better they have become since the last time they played street ball.

Jin complains that they have to have PPDC bodyguards come with them to the games, since pilots are so valuable. He worries that the other teams will take it easy on them, but his worries disappear when he takes an elbow to the face during one particularly brutal drive to the basket. The bodyguards may wonder why he is grinning so widely as he stands, spitting blood while a bruise blooms on his cheek, but Cheung and Hu know exactly why.

Kathy also has them on a steady rotation of appearances. For once, the brothers do not have to hunt for topics to talk about. Their enthusiasm is palpable as they talk about how eager they are to face the kaiju, and the hosts and audiences eat it up. Even Jin participates more, earning big cheers as he describes how much he is looking forward to beating the kaiju blue out of the next giant monster to threaten China.

Cheung talks about how the brothers are only one small part of the Jaeger's team, with countless researchers, engineers, techs, and others contributing. Cheung was always the best at memorizing Kathy's suggested talking points, and he has a knack for making them sound spontaneous.

For once, Hu has a few star moments when hosts ask him to recreate his famous dinner food demonstration of three-person drifting. At first he reenacts the moment with meatloaf a few times, but eventually they have him try it with other foods, as a novelty and as a challenge. It takes him a few tries to explain the concept using spring rolls, much to the audience's delight.

One evening they are driving back from an interview when Jin asks, "Do you ever wonder if any of the people who cheer for us at these shows were in the crowd at our fights?"

Cheung raises his eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

Jin picks a piece of lint from the sleeve of his jacket and rolls it between his fingertips. "Sometimes I think about the crowds after Reckoner attacked the city. People may clap and cheer to see us give interviews, but they screamed for blood when they gathered around the pit."

"They were desperate," Cheung says. "They were scared. Now they have hope. I think that's worth more."

Jin waves a hand. "Hope is nice, but under the surface, people still have that same craving for violence."

"Maybe, but they can rise above it," Cheung replies. "We can show them how. Instead of fighting our fellow humans, we'll fight kaiju, for the good of all humankind."

Both brothers glance at Hu. He feels like he should be the tiebreaker, but he is not sure which side to choose. Before he can decide,  a group of robed kaiju cultists appear out of a crowd and surround their car. The Weis have seen them around on occasion. For the most part, they keep to themselves, attending meetings in a temple built in the bones of a dead kaiju. Sometimes the more radical members stage protests, waving signs and decrying the Jaegers as unholy avatars of mankind's hubris against the redeeming kaiju. Cheung finds them interesting, Jin finds them annoying, and Hu is kind of creeped out by them.

The cultists start off by crowding around the car so that it can't move, shouting and chanting. Several of them have signs. Then they start hitting the car with their palms, and then their fists, and then kicking the car. A few hit the car with their signs.

Jin reaches for the handle. "All right, let's kick their asses!" He tugs the handle, but the door does not open.

Kathy shakes her head. "I have put out the call to the PPDC and the local police. Someone should be here in a few minutes."

"Are you serious?" Jin shouts. "Just open the door, we can take them!"

Cheung nods. "We can fight our way free, or clear a way for the car."

Kathy gives them a hard look. It is the angriest they have ever seen her, which is enough to quiet them down. "You can't put yourselves in harm's way anymore. We need you against the kaiju, which means we can't risk you in any other fight."

Jin is incredulous. "You mean someone else is going to fight our fights for us?"

Kathy's voice is firm. "This is not your fight. You only have one fight now, and that is the fight to ensure humankind's survival."

Hu puts a hand on Jin's shoulder. "They're just scared people who have been deluded by the message of the cult."

Jin looks to Cheung. Cheung sits back in his chair, relaxing even as the cultists continue to pound on their car. Jin has another word for the cultists, and then a few extra, but he crosses his arms and does not argue.

The impacts from the signs leave small white divots in the glass, which start to expand into spiderweb cracks. "We may have to fight anyway," Hu warns.

"They'll be here soon," Kathy reassures them. Sure enough, a few moments later two PPDC vehicles arrive, and personnel rush out and start chasing off the cultists. Not long after that, some police cars join and help in dispersing the crowd.

As their car starts moving again, taking them back to the Shatterdome, Hu studies the dings and dents visible from inside the car. He has a deep, inexpressible feeling about how much their lives have already changed, tied to the knowledge that more change is yet to come.

His brothers do not revisit the conversation from before the cultists attacked, but Hu spends many nights revisiting it, and wondering.

Following the incident, the brothers have to cut back on their basketball games outside the Shatterdome, and they do more interviews remotely. This is fine for Hu, who finds it easier to relax when he does not need to see the studio audience. It also means it is easier to sit further from the camera.

Even though the scientists are building the three-person Pons system, the Shatterdome does not have the budget for a three-person simulator, so they continue to practice in pairs. When Hu rides with Cheung, his role is to follow Cheung's lead, backing him up so that he can fight at his best. When he is paired with Jin, he still lets Jin call the shots, but Hu's role is to reign him in, channeling his ferocity to defeat the kaiju as quickly as possible, with the least damage to the city.

The brothers do not compare each other's piloting styles. Hu thinks it bothers them all that they are not yet riding together, but he tells himself that it will be soon.

In fact, the new Jaeger is moving forward at a remarkable pace. Thanks to Kathy's efforts, the PPDC is enjoying a lot of support in China, and everyone is eager to get the Weis into the fight.

Hu makes frequent visits to the labs and workshops where the various components are being designed. His brothers sometimes join him, but watching for too long makes them anxious, because they are so eager for the project to be finished.

The assembly of the Jaeger is taking place in Changzhou, and the factory sends periodic images and reports on the Jaeger's progress.  As the Jaeger's body shape comes together, Hu recognizes some of the features that the engineers showed him in their plans. They remind Hu of a goat standing on its hind legs, something he saw once at a market. Cheung likes that the Jaeger's legs look high-tech and sleek. Jin thinks they look badass and slightly demonic.

When the arms go on, the brothers get truly excited. The Jaeger's left arm is beefy and strong, with a shield over the shoulder that should be helpful when charging kaiju. There are two more arms on the right side, something Cheung can't contain his excitement about.

"There has never been another Jaeger with three arms!" he says, gazing at a holo-image of the half-skeletal Jaeger as seemingly tiny workers climb over it and assemble its pieces. "Three pilots, with three arms! Those kaiju won't stand a third of a chance!"

Hu and Jin exchange a glance, roll their eyes, and groan.

As the Jaeger nears completion, Hu is not entirely surprised that the phrase "Kaiju won't stand a third of a chance!" has made it into some of the news reports about the soon-to-be-launched Jaeger. Cheung must have told Kathy, who must have run it past focus groups, who must have liked it better than Hu and Jin did. Well, nevermind. It may be cheesy, but if Cheung likes it that much, then Hu is okay with it.

Jin expresses disappointment that their Jaeger turned out to be similar in height to the other Jaegers after all. Hu is pretty sure he's kidding, but it can be hard to tell, with Jin.

* * *

The hardest kaiju incursion happens just days before the new Jaeger is due to launch. The brothers can once again only stand helplessly by and watch as other Jaegers are deployed to fight the latest kaiju threat, Overlord.

One of the Jaegers in the fight, a Russian Jaeger named Legion Testament, gets smashed aside by Overlord's massive battering ram-like head. The brothers look helplessly at the latest images of their Jaeger's construction, as though they could finish its construction through sheer force of will.

"Come on!" Jin shouts. "You can fly us over to it! Let's just take it out, whatever state it's in!"

Several people look over, some worried, others impressed. Hu steps closer to Jin and lowers his voice. "We'd never get out there in time."

"We have to try!" Jin insists.

Cheung finds an engineer who has been liaising with the team assembling the Jaeger and asks him, "Will it run?"

The engineer looks around, trying to get a handle on the situation. "You can't take it out. It's not ready yet."

"Will it run?" Cheung repeats. "Is it complete enough to move yet?"

The engineer stammers, "I… I don't--"

"No." The brothers turn to see Dr. Zhao. They shake their head. "Sorry, we haven't finished hooking up the Pons yet. It doesn't matter how quickly we could get you to Chengzhou, or if we could get the Jaeger to the fight. The engines are in place and most of the components are assembled, but without the Pons, you won't be able to go anywhere."

"This sucks!" Jin shouts.

"You'll be ready for the next kaiju," Dr. Zhao says. There is some uncomfortable shuffling in the room. Even though it has been their reality for a while now, it can still be hard to admit that there is no end in sight to the kaiju incursions.

Jin glowers and turns away. Cheung frowns and crosses his arms, but he nods. "Next time."

"If it helps at all," Hu offers, "the fight looks like it's turning around!"

Two more Jaegers, the Korean Phoenix Orion and the Chinese Regent Epsilon, have joined the fight against Overlord. Even Legion Testament, damaged but not beaten, has managed to get back on its feet. The three Jaegers encircle Overlord, preventing it from building up speed for another charge attack. The fight still drags on for a while longer, and Legion Testament has to fall back after taking more damage, but finally Phoenix Orion climbs onto the kaiju's back and gets a chokehold on it, while Regent Epsilon ducks and punches, wearing it down. The kaiju's legs wobble and give out, and the two Jaegers deliver killing blows before helping Legion Testament get ready for recovery and return to the Vladivostok Shatterdome.

Everyone has noticed that the fights against the kaiju are not going as well as they did earlier in the war. Each fight costs more, in terms of damage to the Jaegers, injuries to the pilots, and, all too often, destruction to cities. For all the hype building up the new Jaeger, the Weis know that all of its vaunted abilities will be needed to stem the tide.

None of the Weis sleep well that night. When they close their eyes, they can see themselves there alongside the other Jaegers, joining the fight and taking down Overlord more quickly.

The next day, the scientists and engineers resume their work with renewed purpose to finish the Jaeger. Hu feels restless and impatient. Someone has hooked up a live feed of the assembly work, and Hu watches it intently. Eventually, his brothers have to come get him to remind him to eat lunch.

Luckily, Kathy is preparing the ceremony to unveil the Jaeger, and she starts rehearsing with the Weis. They will allow an audience of civilians, carefully selected and screened, to be present in the Shatterdome when the Jaeger is officially launched. The brothers will have to give a speech about how the Jaeger represents the product of Chinese expertise and labor, and how grateful and humble they feel to be chosen to pilot it. Though the speech may be carefully scripted, Hu genuinely feels that gratitude, so he studies the script carefully.

Kathy and her team have prepared everything down to the last detail, except for one thing: the Jaeger's name. When she raises the topic, the brothers look at each other, a little baffled. They had always assumed that the Jaegers were named according to some PPDC codes.

"It'll be a surprise, then," Kathy says, with a mischievous smile.

The day arrives. The brothers wake early, even though the ceremony is not until the afternoon. They eat breakfast and play an intense game of basketball, even though they keep missing easy shots because they are so worked up.

They can barely believe that their Jaeger is finally complete. It arrived at the Shatterdome overnight, and now all the brothers want to do is to see it. They have to wait for the unveiling, though.

"Why can't we see it now?" Jin demands.

Kathy explains, "I want to capture that moment during the ceremony. Your reaction has to be real. Trust me, this will make a big impact on the audience."

It makes sense, but they still don't like it.

Hu decides to go for a walk. He dresses in a hoodie and sweatpants, hoping to blend into the crowd and avoid the notice of Jaeger fans and kaiju cultists alike. He thinks about asking his brothers to accompany him, but being around each other while they are all so anxious is only making them more anxious, so perhaps it is for the best that he goes by himself.

He leaves the Shatterdome and walks, feeling the breeze that is blowing in from the ocean. He catches a bus, then rides a tram, wondering at how many people there are, all the buildings with their shops and offices, and how large Hong Kong feels. Each of those people has their own life, each building has its purpose, and the city contains countless stories. Yet despite all that, a single kaiju could wipe it all out in a series of hours, unless pilots like Hu and his brothers stop the kaiju first. That is the scale he is living on now.

This time he is genuinely surprised to find himself in the market where Auntie Sue used to sell her bread. He does not expect to find her, but he looks for her stand anyway. She is not there. He thinks back at the conversations they used to have, the look she would get when she talked about the people who owned the stand. He always knew they were bad people. He hopes she got away from them. Maybe that is why her stand is not in the market anymore.

He stops walking and lets the market crowd flow around him, taking no notice. Whatever she is doing now, he hopes she is happy. She did not talk about it much, but on rare occasions when she was feeling especially sentimental, or especially frustrated, she would say how much she wished she could do more for them. Maybe that is what she is doing now, he decides. He imagines her working with orphaned kids. They call her Auntie Sue, and she smiles and gives them a hard time, and they love her. Maybe occasionally she thinks about three grubby, scabby kids who used to come by for bread. Does she see them on TV? Does she recognize them?

His heart thuds in his chest before he even notices anything is different. Someone is looking at him from across the crowd, from right around where Auntie Sue's bread stand used to be. It is a young woman, about his age or maybe a bit older. She is wearing a college sweatshirt and a skirt over tights. The skirt has PPDC logos patterned on it. He remembers seeing it in a storefront a few months ago and pointing it out to his brothers.

It seems to take forever for his feet to obey him, but he starts to walk toward her. The crowd is busy today, and people do not pay much attention to him, so they keep crossing in front of him. He loses sight of her, but then he sees her back, further from him now and walking away. He tries to go faster, but the people in the crowd notice him rushing and they object, glaring and arguing and standing their ground.

He loses her again, and that's it. He starts pushing through the crowd now, not even caring about the shouts and shoves he receives in return, but he already knows that, when he reaches the edge of the crowd, there will be no sight of her. So he stands there like a fool, gasping and looking around desperately.

Had it really been Ying? Had he been so overcome with nostalgia, and so eager to see a familiar face, that he had conjured her up? Maybe it was only someone who looked like her, and his imagination had done the rest.

Even as he thinks it, he does not truly believe it. It was her. She recognized him, too.

Maybe, someday, they will meet again.

It is getting near lunchtime, so he buys a bag of buns and eats them on the way back to the Shatterdome. The bread is too doughy and the filling is fatty, but he is too lost in thought to care.

When he returns, the guards hurry him through the checkpoints. The ceremony will start soon, and people have been looking for him. He goes to their quarters and showers, changing into his dress uniform.

He goes to join his brothers in the Jaeger bay. Along the way, he catches a glimpse of the crowd who will be the audience at the ceremony. Someone is giving them a tour of the Shatterdome. A few of them look over, and Hu hurries on.

Their Jaeger is covered with a massive red sheet, adorned with a logo that looks like a mask with Chinese opera makeup, biting a ribbon. Hu is not sure what is up with the ribbon, but the mask looks pretty badass.

Kathy gives them a few last-minute tips, adjusts Jin's collar, and gives the signal for the crowd to enter. They come in, along with a group of PPDC workers.

The Shatterdome's Marshall gives a speech, followed by Commander Wong, and then Dr. Zhao. Then it is the Wei brothers' turn. Cheung sounds as inspiring as always, and the crowd beams back at him, even bursting into spontaneous applause a few times. Jin goes off script a bit, mentioning their frustration at having had to wait and their eagerness to do their part.

Hu feels his pulse quicken as his part nears. When the time comes, he pictures Ying in the crowd, and why not, Auntie Sue, too. He tells them about how proud he is to be a part of the team. That team is not just his brothers, but every factory worker, tech, engineer, and scientist who contributed to the Jaeger's design and construction. It is every Chinese person who has supported the PPDC through taxes and donations. The words were written for him, but he finds himself believing them.

It does not matter if some of the audience had been to their pit fights. It does not matter if they had cheered to see the brothers fall. Hu represents something more than himself, and he is fighting for all of them now.

Before it is time to reveal the Jaeger, Kathy appears from the crowd, leading a small child. Kathy explains to the crowd, and to the brothers, that there was a contest to name the new Jaeger, and this child won it. She even designed the Jaeger's logo, and as proof, the child timidly holds up a crayon drawing of a mask like the one on the curtain. The crowd claps. Hu thinks the ribbon in the logo was meant to be a mustache in the picture.

Kathy asks the child what name she came up with, and for a moment, the child is too overcome with stage fright to answer. She fidgets, then looks over at the brothers. Hu gives her an encouraging smile, and Cheung gives her a thumbs-up. She leans toward the microphone Kathy holds out to her and says, "Crimson Typhoon."

The crowd claps and cheers. Kathy lifts the microphone and says, "I present to you, Crimson Typhoon!" The curtain drops, and the Jaeger stands proudly, towering over the crowd. It has been painted its namesake color.

Hu stares up at the Jaeger. He has seen it in sketches, photographs, holograms, and models, but seeing it in person is different. Its presence is overwhelming.

Journalists in the crowd take picture after picture, of the Jaeger, of the pilots, and of the little girl who is now not sure where to go.

As the brothers ride the elevator up to the Jaeger's Conn-Pod, Cheung makes sure all their microphones are off before asking, "So, do either of you think that little girl really drew that picture, or came up with that name?"

Hu is glad for the distraction from the immensity of the moment. He shrugs. "I thought it was cute."

"But you know they probably came up with the name and the logo in a committee?"

Hu laughs. "You're such a smartass sometimes," he says, but he does not argue the point.

"Who cares?" Jin asks. "Crimson Typhoon sounds awesome." His brothers grin in agreement.

The brothers get into the Conn-Pod. They change out of their dress uniforms and into their drivesuits, which are painted and decorated in Crimson Typhoon's motifs. Techs help them suit up, and they get Cheung and Jin into the rigs. As they had decided, Cheung takes the lead position, with Jin beside him. Hu gets into the special third position at the rear of the Conn-Pod. He does not have a full rig, only some armatures for his arms. His job is to stabilize the drift while also helping with the Thundercloud Formation.

Hu's veins are singing with adrenaline. He reminds himself over and over to take it slow as the techs run through the checklists. Hu can see his brothers trying not to fidget in the rigs. He wonders if the audience is getting bored. Well, if they are, they won't be bored for long.

The preparations are finally complete. The techs initiate the drift, and for the first time, the minds of all three brothers drift together. Hu sees happy scenes in the market, eating warm bread, getting scooped up into a four-person hug by Auntie Sue, playing a simple board game with their parents, getting royally demolished at a street game of basketball. Then they are drifting together, and the connection is strong. Even before the techs announce it, he knows this is the strongest connection he has ever had. Dr. Zhao's theories were true. Hu resolves to thank them after this, and then a moment later he is not sure if he had that thought first, or if Jin or Cheung did.

The crowd is moved to a safe distance. They get the go-ahead. Cheung and Jin lean forward in their harnesses and take a step forward. The rigs move, and Crimson Typhoon follows, stepping forward. The first few steps are slow and careful as the brothers get used to the Jaeger's weight. The simulations have always tried to approximate this feeling, but feeling the rise and fall of the titanic machine as they ride inside it feels unlike anything they have experienced before.

They pick up the pace, walking faster across the Bay, turning around, and breaking into a jog on the way back. Crimson Typhoon is state-of-the-art, more nimble than the Jaegers they piloted in the simulator.

"We're doing it!" Jin says, his voice rich with emotion. They all laugh, and Hu can't wipe the sudden moisture from his eyes because he is wearing a helmet.

"None of the other pilots mentioned that part," Hu says, and without any more explanations, his brothers know what he means.

"Let's do a kick!" Cheung says. They do a beautiful side-kick, followed by some jabs and crosses.

Kathy's voice comes over the comm. "The crowd is loving it! Time for the grand finale!"

"Thundercloud formation!" Cheung says. The Jaeger's hands reconfigure themselves into buzz-saws, and the three arms cut patterns in the air as the brothers move in unison.

Hu exults in the power in the Jaeger's arms. Fifty diesel engines per muscle strand drive each motion. Crimson Typhoon is a match for any kaiju on record.

After a lifetime of being forced to fight, the brothers have chosen this battle. Hu feels confident, bold, unstoppable, and ready for anything. It is not just Cheung's confidence or Jin's boldness, it is a combination of all three of them, and stronger than just a sum of their personalities. It is every moment they have suffered together, every time they stood up for each other, every laugh they have shared, and every argument they have weathered and reconciled after.

Yet the kaiju will keep coming, each stronger than the last. Someday, they may face a kaiju who is simply too tough for the Thundercloud Formation to take down.

Hu finally knows why to fight when there is no chance of victory.

They will always fight together.


End file.
